Why it’s wrong to stop covering startup layoffs

Dear readers,

Retrenchments have become the norm these days, so much so that one venture capitalist is calling on the media to refrain from covering layoffs among startups amid the pandemic as they lack resources to keep people.

“It would be the higher ground,” he writes, and many echo his sentiment. While I agree that we shouldn’t report about all layoffs, I do think abstaining from it would be a disservice to the tech community.

Photo credit: 123rf.

It’s been said that “journalism is the first rough draft of history,” a saying goes, and it entails digging for the truth, no matter what we unearth.

As much as we empathize with founders, startup employees also need to be heard, and they’re the ones who’ve been reaching out to us. Their perspectives matter.

While many startups have attributed their woes to Covid-19, some have gone too far and glossed over how bad management decisions led to their predicament.

Indeed, we hope that through our coverage, employees and founders can better appreciate what they’re in for by being part of a startup.

It seems that it’s a case of damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. Tech media has been criticized for shilling startups, and yet we also get flogged for using our magnifying glasses.

That said, the crew at Tech in Asia has adjusted how it reports about layoffs in these tough times. With more retrenchments happening, we’re more selective about which ones we cover. We’re also making it a point to scrutinize the why behind the layoffs and not just the what.

Anyway, let’s move on to our premium stories. We looked into the internal fault lines at Zilingo and how that played into its recent layoffs. Questions are arising about whether it can sustain its momentum.

Over the weekend, we worked hard to bring you an exclusive on the major layoffs at Oriente, a prominent fintech startup with a strong pedigree. What’s happening at the company is also occurring at other online lenders – a counter-intuitive development.

Here are some more stories that we did last week:

Long reads

• Why is Facebook betting $5.7b on Reliance?
• How Singapore’s rooftop gardeners are filling the food supply chain gap

Rising startups

• Meet the 50 top-funded startups and tech companies in India
• Meet the 50 top-funded startups and tech companies in Southeast Asia
• 50 rising startups in China

Do subscribe if you’d like to read these stories and support our work. And to those who celebrate it – Happy Vesak Day!

Cheers,

Terence

P.S: I’m back as chief editor, so you’ll be hearing from me again every week. Looking forward to it!