#49 — Seattle Startup Tracker Update Q2'21 📈👨💻
#49 — Seattle Startup Tracker Update Q2'21 📈👨💻
Updated spreadsheet and hiring trends
The Seattle Startup Tracker is now updated through Q2.
You can download the Excel file to see all the row-by-row details. Keep scrolling for the Q/Q trends.
➡️ If you like the tracker, please comment on LinkedIn 🙋♂️
I started this tracker 12 months ago to highlight opportunities to work with, invest in, or otherwise connect with local startups. Each quarter I update the list and share a few trends here.
Let’s get into the Q2 update…
Startup Hiring Growth Continues
85% of tech startups have open roles listed. Now 8,518 open roles across the 393 companies tracked. All their career pages are linked in the spreadsheet and Airtable.
These companies grew headcount by 6.4% in aggregate in Q2, adding 4,562 net new hires since last quarter. The rate of growth is trending up.
Let’s put this in context with our $1T+ big tech companies. Both have grow significantly since last quarter.
Microsoft has 2,960 open roles listed on their website.
Amazon lists 13,650 open roles in the Seattle area and over 5,800 is software development alone:
Growth by Stage
Volatility in the early stage continues to be the most notable, albeit not surprising, difference. Last quarter, only 15% of the Very Early (<8 EE) companies increased headcount, but that increased to 37% in Q2. This could be the flood of 2021 seed and pre-seed rounds getting to work or just a temporary swing like we’ve seen in the past.
Once again, job seekers in this category may need to be more patient.
On the other side of the spectrum, The 300+ EE group continues to do the most hiring, the most consistently. Seattle now has an impressive group of unicorns and later stage companies that continue to grow fast. With companies like Remitly, Highspot, Outreach, Convoy, Redfin, Smartsheet, Avalara, and more we now have a strong “middle” between true upstarts and the tech giants.
Growing vs Stable vs Contracting
When zooming out, 61% of companies increased headcount this quarter across all sizes, stages, and categories. In the thick of the pandemic that number was down at 42% (tracking monthly at that time).
The mix has been consistent for the last 4 quarters at around 60%.
What stood out for you in this update? Anything you’d like to see more/different/better next quarter?