The Two Worst Days of My Founder Life

Summer 2019: After laying off 19 team members to save NanoTemper, I sat on this beach and asked myself what kind of founder I wanted to become.

19 Let Go. 150 Jobs Saved.

It was the summer of 2019.

I was sitting on this beach.

The sky was heavy.

My heart heavier.

Just 48 hours earlier, we had let go of 19 team members.

Roughly 15% of our people.

We did it to protect the company.

To protect the other 150.

What Went Wrong

We had a cash wall ahead.

And almost no time to react.

Revenue behind plan.

Forecasts uncertain.

Burn rate unacceptably high.

And yes—that was on me.

Where I failed:

– I hired too fast. For the future, not for revenue.

– I missed the signals.

– I accepted vague forecasts.

– I had no strong financial discipline in place.

I was too optimistic.

Too blind.

And by the time we faced the reality, there was only one month left to act.

The Hardest Decision I’ve Ever Made

We had to reduce headcount.

Fast. Drastically.

So we let 19 people go.

In two days.

It still hurts to write that.

But we knew: if we waited, we’d risk losing everyone.

How We Tried to Do It Right

We gave fair severance.

We made personal phone calls.

We wrote references.

We helped with job searches.

Because people deserve respect.

Even in crisis. Especially then.

I still think about that team.

And I carry that summer with me, every single year since.

What We Changed After

We didn’t just cut.

We transformed.

– Forecasts are now owned, challenged, and improved

– We spend only what we earn

– Weekly cash and cost reporting

– Profitability is non-negotiable

We returned to double-digit profitability in 2020.

And we’ve never lost it since.

My Founder Lesson

Hypergrowth without discipline is just hope.

Hope with a burn rate.

Over to You

What was the hardest call you ever had to make to save your company?

And what safeguard do you have in place now—

so you never have to make that same call again?