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Reflection on the Past 2 Years

Hi there,

Hope you all had a good weekend! Vieje back here again with an extra special newsletter because today marks newsletter #50 of Founders & Funders!

Back in 2022, we had an idea to launch a newsletter for startup founders, employees, and investors. We knew that we had a lot of users at Secfi who wanted to learn more about equity compensation, startups, VC, and financial planning. But we had no idea if the newsletter would be well received or if anyone would actually read it.

I wrote our first newsletter Stonks don’t always go up (and that’s okay) back in July 2022. I went through about 10 different drafts with my colleagues and it took me about 30 minutes to finally press send. My emotions were a mix of relief and panic. Pretty much every negative thought crossed my mind at that point. What if it sucks? Is anyone going to read it?

Thankfully we have some awesome readers who provided both positive and constructive feedback, and continue to do so to this day. As I write this, I couldn’t be more grateful to you all for the kind words and feedback.

A lot has happened since we started writing this newsletter. For newsletter #50, we wanted to take a short look back on what’s happened in the past two years since we launched Founders & Funders.

What's happened in the past 2 years?

Back when we first started in Q2 2022, it felt like the sky was falling for the tech and VC world. In our first newsletter, I wrote that H1 2022 was the worst first half of the year since 1970. The Nasdaq 100 was down by over 28%.

The first set of layoffs were just starting and valuations were plummeting both in the public and private markets. VC firms had mostly stopped deploying capital by the time Q3 hit. Investors were advising their portfolio companies to start planning for a rough year or two at least.

Looking back, those were scary times in 2022. A lot of us, including myself, who joined the workforce after 2008 had not gone through a correction and bear market like this in our short work lives. Deep down, we knew these things were cyclical but how long was this going to last?

Unfortunately, the answer was a lot more. 2022 was not a fun year for pretty much anyone in tech or VC. Optimism for a better 2023 was around and there was some hope that we’d have at least a bit of a recovery. Unfortunately, Q1 2023 brought a banking crisis that was not on anyone’s bingo card.

In March of 2023, Silicon Valley Bank went through a bank run, which left a void for both companies and individuals across the ecosystem.

In the fall of 2023, we had a dash of hope as some tech companies decided to brave the choppy waters and go public via an IPO. While each was a relatively successful IPO, the market reception was mixed and the IPO window closed for the rest of the year.

Why I'm excited for the next 2 years

So far, 2024 has largely been a positive one for all of us. The S&P 500 is up 11.05% YTD and the Nasdaq 100 is up 13.05% YTD as of May 29, 2024. Successful IPOs have sparked renewed investor interest in tech and the consensus expectation is that there will be more IPOs this year.

Besides the market resurgence, there’s plenty to be excited about. Advancements in technology over the recent years have been exciting, specifically AI. We’ve seen the power of tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E. The emergence of AI technology could usher in a new generation of startups solving today’s biggest problems and improve quality of life for everyone.

Innovation never stops, and I believe when we write newsletter #100 in two years, there will be even more new things to be excited about because of what you all have built.

Thanks again for being awesome and we can't wait to continue to this newsletter to edition #100 and beyond!