Rightsizing

So in exchange for an internal round from our original VCs we have cut headcount from 20 to 16 effectively now. Two from QA, one from support and another from sales. To me it is surprising that we kept all four developers because this is the most redundant area taking into account that our CTO does a lot of coding as well.

The new money is expected to take us through 2009. Our stated goal is to become cash flow-positive by the end of it. We are quite frugal and so we will probably be able to save on office lease and server hosting - the good news about the current environment is that prices are falling.

The good news is that despite the very same adverse environment we are actually seeing an increasing number of high-caliber customers. We have a business model and a limited but growing revenue. So I guess I should be cautiously optimistic about my employment next year even if I do not expect much from my stock options.

Respite

Well, we seem to have secured another round and so my position is supposed to survive this time. Well, at least I have an up-to-date resume :)

Tell tale signs

A Director of Engineering wrote a couple of LinkedIn recommendations. A colleague started job hunting. It bodes ill I guess. And I still cannot believe I should seriously consider the possibility of losing my job any day now. Probably because it would be the first lay-off in my career. I guess I'd better go update my resume.

It's coming

Well, you know things are getting tense when your Director of Engineering questions his future with the company. Actually, we are very close to a new stage and all three options (another round with smaller valuation and headcount; being bought and left operating independently; being bought and merged with the buyer's organization) are still open this week. And it is very likely we will know the answer this week or so.

To be honest, I am getting moderately worried. I was hoping to keep this job until at least next spring. Let's see what happens, there are way too many uncertainties to invalidate any reasonable planning.

Recession repercussions

So the crisis seems to be striking closer to home. During a weekly all-hands meeting today our CEO essentially predicted that by the end of the year we would either get a 4th round or be bought by somebody. And according to him although we have options, there is no way to predict how it all will end up.

Curiously enough, so far everyone I know have kept their jobs. Even quite a few former Lehman folks in NYC and London are nowadays employed by other well known financial institutions. Judging from increasingly negative news the next year is likely to be less merciful.

Which makes me wonder if it is safer to be in the Bay Area or somewhere where not everyone is a software developer. And speaking of job security, I am really curious whether employers will be slashing H1 people before residents and citizens or vice versa.

As a side-note, another former colleague just got his I-485 approved after only 4 months. Time flies - who could think a couple of years ago that after getting a GC the next challenge would be to stay employed :)