The company hit a very rough patch this past spring, which I believe forever changed its cultural and potentially fiscal future. Startups don’t control the economy, the economy controls them. When you enter a time period in the country, where the government is, essentially encouraging, layoffs to stop earning, which in-turn tempers spending, honestly it’s hard to win. Dragos promised no layoffs, but they likely had no choice. And no matter how hard a company tries… Most, if not all these layoffs will be taken personally by the people who lose their jobs. A layoff is not an event that negatively affects just the person. The person’s family feels it and suffers it as well. It can kill summer vacation plans, it can cancel that special trip you wanted to take. The layoffs for me, happened around noon on my birthday. This hit me especially hard. But they hit everyone hard. It’s the nature of layoffs. Of course, I was not happy with their decision to add me to among the 50 others, but to be fair (if that is possible in such a review) I was not totally surprised either. I was however in denial about being among the special selected few…which severely delayed my ability to respond quickly. I have another very interesting role ahead of me with an even more important mission. Everything happens for a reason. Embrace what you have and appreciate change. It brings good things. I am happy have had a chance to contribute there.
