"Ask anyone who has had to lay off someone they recruited and brought into the company - it's miserably awful." - In particular, I recall when Ben Horowitz had to do that to about 200+ people in 2001, some of whom he had hired away from other jobs to come work at Loudcloud just a few months earlier. I'm trying to recall if I've ever seen anyone suffer as much as he did when he met with the employees to explain what was happening, and why he had to do it.

It was a case of survival, and I did not envy him for a second. I think he probably carries the emotional scars of that moment to this day.