🔥 64 Top Tech Cos, Layoffs vs. Jobs Growth, Reddit's IPO 📈

Mar 04, 2024 - Vote at TopTechTournament.com

Colin Lernell

Mar 05, 2024

64 Tech Companies Go Head-to-Head To Find The Top Tech Company To Join In 2024…

Start Voting

Vote at the end of this issue for the 32 Round 1 matches across divisions such as AI, Fintech, Space, etc.
Check results and vote for future rounds at TopTechTournament.com
See all the details below and comment with any companies we missed!

Here we go…

💼 Hiring Trends

🏀 The 3-Pointer

Nearly 4k layoffs the last week of February
But job openings growth continues with +6,400 job openings last month
The trend is real, but hopefully slowing. From 2022 to early 2024, U.S. tech sector layoffs surged from over 93k to more than 191k, with 30k in 2024 so far

Forward Top Tech to a friend! Everyone should be building their job options in 2024.

🧰 Job Search & Negotiation Tips

Tip: Leverage AI to automate your job search

*Oops! Sonara shut down in recent weeks. Similar, but not as automated solutions using AI include Teal and LazyApply. Automated job applications are probably not ready for prime time anyway!
Use Careerflow.ai to automate job tracking and optimize your LinkedIn/resume
Use Prospect and TrueUp to find tech jobs based on your resume

📈 Company Power Rankings

Now it's time to take action…
Here are this week's company power rankings, so go start those reach-outs!

Legend:

💸 Pays top of market

💰 Pays competitively

🔥 Heating Up

Tip: Consider these as targets

xAI - Elon’s AI co. aiming for $20 billion valuation in upcoming funding round
Anthropic - AI company released Claude 3 models to its popular chat bots (note: used in the making of this newsletter)
Mistral - The well-funded Paris AI startup has launched a competing product to OpenAI's ChatGPT and struck a partnership with Microsoft. This could position Mistral as a key player in the rapidly growing AI market.
Reddit - Planning IPO at $6.5 billion valuation
Stripe - Payment giant offered employees a tender offer to sell their shares at $65 billion valuation (down from $95B), though this could mean IPO is further off
Waymo - The self-driving car company received approval to operate robotaxis in the San Francisco peninsula, Los Angeles, and on San Francisco freeways

💵 Raised Funds This Week

Tip: Should be hiring soon. Reach out to hiring managers before they even post the jobs

Abridge - Raised $150M Series C for AI-powered clinical notes (Pittsburgh) | Lightspeed, Redpoint Ventures
Fervo Energy - Raising $221M for advanced geothermal drilling technologies (Houston) | Notable investors: Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Masayoshi Son
FogPharma - Raised $145M Series E for cancer drugs combining small molecules and biologics (Cambridge, MA)
Figure - Raised $675M Series B at $2.6B post-money valuation for humanoid robots with AI (Sunnyvale, CA) | Microsoft, OpenAI Startup Fund, Nvidia
Kenai Therapeutics - Raised $82M Series A for cell therapies for neurodegenerative diseases (San Diego)
Glean - Raised $200M Series D at $2.2B valuation for AI-powered workplace search (Palo Alto) | Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners
Intenseye - Raised $64M Series B at $90M+ total funding for workplace safety monitoring (New York) | Lightspeed Venture Partners
Inkitt - Raised $37M Series C at $117M total funding for AI-powered story publishing platform (San Francisco) | Khosla Ventures

☁️ Proceed with Caution

Apple canceled its self-driving car project and will likely lay off staff and move some staff to AI units, limiting open roles
Gaming layoffs: Supermassive, Sony Playstation and EA - Gaming companies laid off employees (25%, 8%, 5%)
Expedia laid off 8%
Bumble - The public dating app company laid off 350 or 30% of its company

🚀 Vote (or apply): 64 Top Tech Tournament Companies

Entertainment Division

Netflix: Public, $257B Valuation, Top 50 Highest Paying, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Netflix, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Netflix
Spotify: Public, $50B Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Spotify, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Spotify

E-commerce Division

SHEIN: Private, $66B Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/SHEIN, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/SHEIN
Shopify: Public, $107B Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Shopify, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Shopify

Gaming Division

Electronic Arts: Public, $39B Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Electronic-Arts, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Electronic-Arts
Epic Games: Private, $32B Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Epic-Games, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Epic-Games
Roblox: Public, $28B Valuation, Top 50 Highest Paying, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Roblox, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Roblox
Niantic: Private, $9.0B Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Niantic, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Niantic

Marketplaces Division

Instacart: Public, $7.3B Valuation, Top 50 Highest Paying, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Instacart, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Instacart
DoorDash: Public, $50B Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/DoorDash, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/DoorDash
Uber: Public, $167B Valuation, Top 50 Highest Paying, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Uber, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Uber
Airbnb: Public, $101B Valuation, Top 50 Highest Paying, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Airbnb, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Airbnb

Space Division

SpaceX: Private, $150B Valuation, 2x Growth Potential, JoinProspect: https://www.joinprospect.com/company/spacex, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/SpaceX, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/SpaceX
Blue Origin: Private, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Blue-Origin, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Blue-Origin

Self-Driving Cars Division

Nuro: Private, $8.6B Valuation, Top 50 Highest Paying, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Nuro, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Nuro
Pony.ai: Private, $8.6B Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Pony.ai, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Pony.ai
Cruise (GM): Private, $30B Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Cruise-(GM), Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Cruise
Waymo (Alphabet): Private, $30B Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Waymo-(Alphabet), Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Waymo

Social Media Division

TikTok (Bytedance): Private, $225.0B Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/TikTok-(Bytedance), Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/TikTok
Snap: Public, $19B Valuation, Top 50 Highest Paying, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Snap, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Snap
Meta: Public, $1.24T Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Meta, Trueup: httpshttps://trueup.io/co/Meta
Reddit: Private, $10B Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Reddit, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Reddit
X (Twitter): Private, $19B Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/X-(Twitter), Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/twitter
LinkedIn: Public, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/LinkedIn, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/LinkedIn
Twitch: Public, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Twitch, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Twitch
YouTube: Public, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/YouTube, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/YouTube

Trillion Tech Division

Apple: Public, $2.84T Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Apple, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Apple
Microsoft: Public, $3T Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Microsoft, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Microsoft
Google: Public, $1.78T Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Google, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Google
Amazon: Public, $1.76T Valuation, Levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/companies/Amazon, Trueup: https://trueup.io/co/Amazon

🕒 IPO Watch

🟢 Promising

Reddit - Social media community platform filed for IPO at $6.5 billion valuation
Shein - Changing to the London Stock Exchange? Chinese fast fashion giant may avoid SEC rejection by moving to the UK-based exchange for IPO
Navan - Corporate travel management company formerly known as TripActions; on IPO watchlist
Astera Labs - Fabless semiconductor company; on IPO watchlist
Circle - Major USDC stablecoin developer confidentially filed for IPO
Zeekr - Chinese electric vehicle company planning 2024 IPO
Rubrik - Data management and security company pushed back plans to Spring 2024 or later
SeatGeek - Sports/concert ticket marketplace filed for IPO in April 2023, expected in 2024
Turo - Car-sharing startup delayed IPO a few times but could go public in 2024

🟡 Still waiting

High-paying 💸 Databricks, 💸 Plaid, and 💸 Stripe all silent on IPO plans
Now 💸 OpenAI has joined 💸 Databricks, SpaceX, and 💸 Stripe in allowing employees to sell shares to investors recently to delay the need for an IPO
Navan, Fanatics, and Klarna have all been quieter after earlier IPO speculation

📈 Recent IPOs:

🔥 Arm (+89.65% since IPO!) England-based chip designer → Stock soared +48% in a single day this week!
📉 Klaviyo (-9.34%, but rebounding) Marketing automation platform
📉 Instacart (-11.33%, but rebounding) Grocery delivery
Oddity (-13.17%) Direct-to-consumer beauty brand

Forward Top Tech to a friend! Everyone should be building their job options in 2024

Top Tech by Colin Lernell

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