The Plaid alumni hiring from Coinbase rescuing laid-off fintech engineers
For all fintech's positive steps in 2024, there have been multiple setbacks in the form of major layoffs. Multi-product fintech Brex, for example, cut around 282 employees in January. However, one startup, has let Brex's loss be its gain.
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Stytch, a startup focused on identity access management, was founded in 2020 by an engineer and product manager from notoriously high-paying payment firm Plaid. Stytch has around 70 employees, and was previously valued at $1bn, albeit in 2021.
Four 'Brexlings' have joined Stytch since March. They include Brandon Gier, who explicitly stated that he was part of the layoffs and published an advice guide for employees in a similar position. Gier also noted that in his next role, he would be looking for an actively hiring, bottom-heavy company with an opportunity to provide leadership.
The other Brexlings at Stytch didn't say they were part of the layoffs, but all left in January. They include two senior software engineers and a solutions engineer, the latter of which worked there just nine months. Stytch also hired Nidal Fakhouri, a remote-working IOS engineer who announced he was a part of Spotify's layoffs earlier this year.
Stytch is hiring generally. This month, it added Colleen Stock, an engineering manager from Coinbase who was working on infrastructure, an area Coinbase CEO Bryan Armstrong previously said the firm needs to invest more into.
The San Francisco Business Times reported that Stytch conducted layoffs of its own in February 2023, releasing 25% of staff. One engineer via Glassdoor claims they were laid off via email and that "nobody from management or leadership reached out." Other than that, people seem to enjoy working there; it has an impressive 4.8 stars Glassdoor. Reviews in 2024 say the firm has a very high bar for talent, with a lot of autonomy afforded to them. Even the laid off engineer said, "the people at Stytch made my experience working there great."
Stytch is currently recruiting for eight roles, five of which being experienced software engineers. Vacancies are in San Francisco, New York, or remote, and can pay a salary of up to $225k. It also peculiarly encourages users to apply via API, if CV building isn't your forte.
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