* Apartment List (13% per The Information)
* Carta (16% per The Information)
* Opendoor (35% per The Information)
Any others? Interesting that they were all announced on the same day, is it possible that there was some coordination, especially by VCs trying to staunch the blood loss within their portfolios?
Carta: Offering stock options to your employees does not seem to be something short term enough that 2-3 months of slowed business cycle would impact sales.
Opendoor: Anecdotally, I know of multiple people who have sold houses above listing in my market, others buying at or above market, and realtors doing tours (both virtually and in person). And 35% is a drastic cut.
One theory is that this is reducing operating expenses to not have to raise funds this year.
In the abstract, I'd guess the primary theory is that you never let a crisis go to waste. These exigent circumstances allow for making moves which otherwise would cause such a ruckus that it is avoided. Deprecating products which aren't viable. Eliminating groups / etc which aren't proving value.
We shall see.
https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/06/carta-was-just-valued-at-1...
May 2019 gives some grips to the timing though; A 2 year expansion runway on a raise is pretty standard, so while they will likely be talking to investors this year, if they limit expansion, they should presumably be safe through 2021. But how much will their business growth metric be impacted; restaurants and face to faces weren't their business, but technology companies, and most likely those near or over a year old who have raised a round.
Edit: To be clear, by colloquially I mean how people tend to use the word in practice.
Laid off - company's business situation has changed and does not require your services anymore - no fault of yours.