any time i write about the financial services industry
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Samantha Stokes
@stokessamanthaj
reporting on startups + vc + healthtech . otherwise procrastinating via running, cooking, knitting, tiktok.
Samantha Stokes’s Tweets
New: Workato and Clari slashed a number of jobs last week, contributing to the tech layoff carnage of 2023. In both cases, employees were caught off guard and shared details about their experiences with , , and me here:
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New from and me: startup unicorns Workato and Clari are the latest to slash jobs in the great tech pullback after January saw a brutal increase in #techlayoffs. Get the details in :
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it's so disorienting to see the insane number of tech layoffs recently and then to see today that the US added 517K jobs + pushed unemployment down to lowest level in 50 years... can't tell if i'm just in a tech echo chamber or if i'm missing something else here
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really hard hitting journalism happening rn over on tik tok dot com (me explaining why andy from devil wears prada is the actual villain of the movie)
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Dental care startups are beginning to boom: and I spoke with about how he raised $3m for and how he was inspired by a horrific dentist visit. Read the full story + see the startup's pitch deck 👇🏾
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the duality of woman: being a healthtech reporter who ate two bags of sweet tarts ropes for dinner last night
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VC-backed dental care is having a big moment. Here's a look from me and at one of the newest entrants into the booming space: , which just raised $3 million from investors.
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As we keep building up this initiative, please watch this space for updates. In the meantime, we’d like to hear from you: What do you think is missing from existing gun violence coverage? What can we do differently? Answer here… and thank you.
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After covering hundreds of NYC shootings between us, and I have started 2023 with a mission: to chronicle, trace and report every fatal act of gun violence in the city this year.
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If you didn't already know Glassdoor was bullshit, now you do businessinsider.com/healthtech-sta via
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For those that wonder about Glassdoor reviews: The CEO of buzzy healthtech startup Vial, which slashed up to 50 jobs last year, asked remaining employees to write positive Glassdoor reviews businessinsider.com/healthtech-sta scoop via @ and
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It's no secret that tech startups took a beating in 2022. Recent mutual-fund filings give a new look into just how much startups like Stripe, Reddit, and Instacart are hurting right now. Take a look at my analysis here.
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The 20 new positive reviews that flooded Glassdoor over the course of a month raised the buzzy healthtech startup's rating from 1 to 3.8 stars. Read more here on :
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Scoop from & me: Two months after layoffs, Vial's CEO asked remaining employees to write positive Glassdoor reviews. He then celebrated the higher rating on Slack, adding "we're not going to talk about where it started a few weeks ago."
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Glassdoor has long been an important tool for job seekers, but a 2019 investigation by the Wall Street Journal found that employers were increasingly manipulating the site by instructing employees to flood it with good reviews (h/t !!!)
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A former employee said that the review asks come at a time of low spirits for the company: "Morale is very low. It's just as messy as ever. And there's still a lot of people leaving."
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CEO Simon Burns gave kudos to an employee on slack for "coordinating several efforts" to raise the startup's Glassdoor rating to 3.9 stars, up from 1 star in October. He asked other employees, meanwhile, to "give her a hand, review us on Glassdoor."
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NEW from me and : the CEO of buzzy healthtech startup Vial instructed remaining employees to write positive Glassdoor reviews to counteract negative ones on the site, months after laying off 40-50 staffers.
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Reach out to my newest full-time reporting teammate for any and all AI and young VC/founder news!! So happy to have you on board 🎉
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Personal news: Last week I finished up my fellowship at @BusinessInsider and am starting today as a reporter covering AI, consumer tech, and young investors/founders. So excited to be working with such an incredible team! If you want to chat, email me at spalazzolo@insider.com.
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Personal news: Last week I finished up my fellowship at @BusinessInsider and am starting today as a reporter covering AI, consumer tech, and young investors/founders. So excited to be working with such an incredible team! If you want to chat, email me at spalazzolo@insider.com.
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One of my rx meds shot up in price from 20 bucks to nearly 70 when my new insurance plan switched over at the start of the year 🫠🥵
Grateful that this is doable — albeit annoying — for me, but also very angry this is the system we have!!!
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NY folks — good recs for leather dry cleaners that don’t cost an arm and a leg? My tailor quoted me $85 for a pair of pants, and ideally I don’t want to shell out quite that much for something I found in a yard-sale bin for a couple bucks.
Ahead of any potential IPO, Stripe's valuation was just slashed 20% in December by another big mutual fund businessinsider.com/stripe-valuati via
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inbox zero is all fun and games until your "intros/deal with this later" folder has 452 emails 🤡😔
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there are so many vc backed men's clothing startups, but where's the vc backed women's white turtleneck that's resistant to makeup stains ??????????????
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It's a very important day over at : our list of the 32 most important VCs in LA is here! 🌴🚀, , and I have the rundown on top investors at , , , and more:
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guys I’m not doing well lol
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“R u okay” bro the sky been grey for 3 weeks
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and I tracked 15 members of the "Square mafia," including execs from , , and , to see what they're up to these days, from launching multibillion-dollar public companies to running high-profile VC firms:
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New from and me: From PayPal to Facebook, Silicon Valley has long been obsessed with the idea of company "mafias." Now, with nearly $40Bn in startup value created from ex-Square staffers, it seems like there's a new mafia in town.
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Here's an updated look at members of the wildly successful mafia — where past employees have gone on to found successful startups like and . From me and ⤵️
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Yawned at a dinner party and the host goes, “see this is why I thought you were 30.”
…reader I am a spry 26…
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Working on a story about VCs in Texas! 🤠 Who do you know based there? (I'm also at sstokes@insider.com).
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Sam 🤝 Dan
CBS hits
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Thanks to @CBSMoneyWatch for having me on today to talk bank earnings!
Check out the segment here:
cbsnews.com/video/banks-po
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Scoop from and me: Last October, buzzy healthtech startup Vial quietly slashed dozens of jobs. Just a month later, the company announced a $67MM Series B round, led by General Catalyst. Insiders say they were blindsided. Read more here:
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.@erenbali spoke with @RebeccaTorrenc5 and me about Carbon Health's growth pullback despite the CVS investment.
He said he wanted to be candid - because in an environment like this one, it's important that founders can learn from each other.
businessinsider.com/carbon-health-
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I was on yesterday talking about tech layoffs (sad!) and also the art hanging in the newsroom (happy!)
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Scoop: BlackRock is cutting up to 500 jobs in its first round of layoffs since early 2019 as the market turndown hits the world's largest money manager.
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Each week marks a new opportunity to try a new-to-me ancient grain 😌
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Wang became known in the Valley as "the next Zuckerberg." Still applies as both just made the tough decision to do layoffs businessinsider.com/layoffs-tiger- via
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