Funded, Not Fired: San Francisco Firm, To Offer $100,000 To Laid-off Tech Employees To Begin Start-ups

Recently, the world witnessed a global layoff wave as numerous employees across tech firms were abruptly let go. Tech giants like Twitter, Meta, Amazon and several others are laying off employees to cut down on company costs. Meanwhile, One Day Ventures, a venture capital firm based in San Francisco is offering to give $100,000 to the laid-off employees of these organizations!

Launched in 2018, One Day Ventures is a venture capital firm that backs customer-first companies, while spearheading their communications. Masha Bucher is the Founder and General Partner at the firm who also owned two start-ups before this organization. She believed that being laid off was the best thing that ever happened to her. And thus, wants to support all the recently laid-off employees with their own start-ups.

‘Funded, Not Fired’ is an initiative started by One Day Ventures with an aim to help 20 new entrepreneurs and teams get funded with their first $100,000 cheque. With this program announced by the firm on November 8, 2022, 20 ambitious new entrepreneurs will be able to get their first institutional angel check. Only people who were at the receiving end of the recent layoffs at tech companies are eligible to apply for this.

For this, you’ll have to send in your applications via the official website of One Day Ventures. Once the applicants are shortlisted, the firm will invest $100,000 USD into 20 companies using a standard YC-style SAFE of $2M post-money cap, and pro-rata. In the coming 6 months, the firm will then pick the top companies and lead their seed round with a $1M check.

Also Read: Meta Layoffs: How The Affair Unfolded

The program that started on November 8, 2022, will finally wrap up by December 16, 2022. This clearly indicates that it’s going to be a fairly long process to choose the top 20 among all the applicants. Here’s how the process of selection will be:

Step 1: Send Applications - You need to send in your applications and referrals by November 25, 2022, at 11:59 pm Pacific Time. To do this, you have to go to the website and fill up the form to apply to the Funded, Not Fired program. You’ll also need 3 referrals submitted about you on the website. So take help from your ex-colleagues or co-founders.

Step 2: Initial Interviews - These will begin on November 28, 2022, and will go on till December 6, 2022. Top applicants will have to go through two zoom call interviews, each with one person from the firm’s team.

Step 3: Final Assessment - Finalists who have cleared the interviews will now participate in a 10-20 minute zoom call with the entire team of One Day Ventures between December 7 and December 16. Post this, the final decision will be made by December 20.

Once the results are announced, the 20 selected entrepreneurs will get their money wired before the end of the year, provided their company is already set up. If not, One Day Ventures will also help the selected applicants set up their companies.

Also Read: Big Tech Layoffs: Which Corporate Giants Have Recently Announced Job Cuts & Hiring Freeze

Now that you know about this incredible opportunity, you’d be wondering how to send in your applications. Don’t worry, we’ve got you. Just follow the steps mentioned below:

1. Go to https://www.dayoneventures.com/.

2. Click on the “FUNDEDNOTFIRED” tab on the top.

3. Click on the “Apply Now” button and a new web page will open up.

4. Fill in your details and talk about yourself and your idea as best as you can.

5. Once that’s done, click on “Submit Application”.

That’s it, your application is submitted. However, don’t forget to get your 3 referrals submitted on the website before the due date i.e. November 25, 2022. Meanwhile, for your application to be considered under the program, you need to fit into the eligibility criteria. For that, ensure the following two things:

1. At least one co-founder must have been recently laid off from a tech company.

2. The applicant has to be a full-time founder at this new company.

Once, you’re clear on that, and your referrals are in place, all you have to do is pray that you get selected for the initial interviews and then nail it.