"That sounds a little scary, but on the other hand, what that means for founders is that you don't need a team of 50 or 100 engineers," said Tan, adding that companies are reaching as much as $10 million in revenue with teams of less than 10 people. "You don't have to raise as much. The capital goes much longer."
The growth-at-all-costs mindset of Silicon Valley during the zero-interest-rate era has gone "out the window," said Tan, pointing to a renewed focus on profitability. That focus on the bottom line also applies to megacap tech companies. Google, Meta and Amazon have gone through multiple rounds of layoffs and pulled back on hiring.
While that's shaken some engineers, Tan described it as an opportunity.