Finfluencer Sharan Hegde promises no more layoffs after 1% Club sacks 15% of staff in first major cost-cutting push

Sharan Hegde, the founder of The 1% Club, said he is not looking to lay off more people after sacking employees for the first time at the fledgling startup. “We have identified significant AI driven cost savings that can boost profitability and efficiency which can be reinvested in the business growth," Hegde wrote, explaining why he fired 15% of his two-year-old company’s almost 200-strong workforce. They’ve cut down the marketing team to just 2 employees, events team down to 4 employees, when they have an event with 200 people coming up next week," read a Reddit post labelled ‘Laid off from my job at 1% Club, Sharan Hegde’s “financial planning" startup.’ “Currently most of our IG reels are AI reels which require only a team of one editor to produce 30 reels a month," Hegde toldMint. Super strict Reflecting on the company’s rapid growth, Hegde explained, “I started this company from my bedroom with just 5 interns 2 years back, and fast forward today we have almost 200 employees." “We’ve been running this company bootstrapped without ever using investor capital because we are super strict with our financial planning and diligence," Hegde added, emphasising the company’s commitment to fiscal responsibility.