The trend of layoffs at large tech firms that started last year has continued into 2023. Tech behemoths like Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft are still laying off thousands of employees due to various reasons including an economic slowdown, AI replacing some jobs and a pullback from a hiring spree during the pandemic.
A virtual network that offers current and would-be entrepreneurs a chance to connect is helping laid-off Big Tech employees who want to start their own companies.
CoFoundersLab is offering them a free premium membership for a year.
“No gimmicks, nothing to buy, no credit cards for future use,” Steve Lehman, the chair of CoFoundersLab, told L.A. Inno. “Just a simple value proposition for those techies that have been thrown aside, and may want to focus their energies and skills on becoming entrepreneurs.”
The offer is open to any type of former Big Tech employees, not just C-level execs, he said.
A premium membership gives users access to a network of more than 650,000 entrepreneurs, so they can search for a startup partner based on interests, skills and location.
Features include discussion boards where users can ask questions; weekly live masterclasses with industry experts, marketers and investors; and pitch practices.
This tier is $29.00 per month. So, the free offer for a year has a value of $348.
It’s a win-win, Lehman said. Laid off employees get a free year of networking tools and educational resources and CoFoundersLab gets an “amazing new group of highly-skilled and technical people joining the platform.”
Lehman and Thom Beers acquired CoFoundersLab for $2.5 million in 2018. They were the principal partners in Business Rockstars, which produced educational videos, podcasts and TV programming for entrepreneurs.
They acquired CoFoundersLab with the goal of combining content and community. Since then, the community has grown from 400,000 register users to over 650,000.
New features
CoFoundersLab intends to debut a new program, “Launch!” later this month. This program is the evolution of their “startUP” accelerator program. It’s $89.00 per month, with 30 days free to start.
The groups will be advisor-driven and include live virtual interactive sessions, including webinars, pitch practices, pitching to investors and networking.
So far 300 companies have applied.
Growth of the lab
Lehman said it’s “impossible” to determine how many startups have been created due to connections made within the CoFoundersLab.
He did say that out of more than 650,000 registered users on the platform, about 140,000 of those are “actively engaged.”
