"Being laid off is NOT the same as being fired because it is not considered to be the fault of the employee. It is, actually, the fault of the employer. A layoff is often called a "reduction in force" or "down-sizing." ... This is often the reason that more highly-paid employees seem to be on the layoff candidate list."

Here's an article from Jan 2016 listing many VC-backed startups that laid employees off: https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/08/burn-slower-or-vaporize/

Here's a newer article from this year that also lists different VC-backed startups that laid people off: https://venturebeat.com/2017/01/14/early-layoffs-and-closure...

All the while, the tech scene and general economy have been growing. Layoffs in tech are a byproduct of the accelerated lifecycle of VC-fueled startups, leaving unsuspecting employees to unexpectedly look for a new job without having one, wasting valuable time and earning potential.

Existing job-search processes usually take months from kickoff to signing, as it takes time to both find the right fit and move through a company's various interview steps. Our platform will address the first problem by broadly circulating candidates to hiring startups that want to know about newly-available talent, and we address the second problem by incentivizing employers to compete on speed of interview process. If they don't, they'll simply lose these local, experienced candidates to some other firm.

Layoff-Aid only accepts candidates affected by layoffs from SF tech startups.

Let me know how I can clarify further.