Back Office Roundup: May

Here’s your fast, focused roundup of the biggest trends, freshest data, and sharpest insights shaping early-stage startup talent, compensation, and benefits this month.

Author

Cris Cafiero
June 02, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

🌟 Today
Welcome to the The Back Office Newsletter. In this edition, you’ll find upcoming events & resources, a recap of Sequoia’s landmark company offsite, an LA VC networking event, startup industry trends, venture capital updates, and important equity data for startups to consider.

Table of Contents

🗓️ Upcoming Events & Resources

Webinar: 2025 Employee Benefits Trends for Tech Companies: Latest Benchmarks

We’ve compiled key takeaways from our newly released 2025 Benefits Benchmarking Reports for how tech companies are adapting their benefits programs to find savings and compete for talent.

In these quick 30-minute webinars, our experts will cover:

  • What are companies eliminating or adding

  • Cost containment strategies to stretch your benefits dollar

  • Emerging benefits trends that are resonating with employees

Date: Thursday, June 5
Startup Session: 10:00am PT
Mid-Sized + Ent Session: 11:00am PT

Report: Sequoia’s Guide to Navigating Total People Investment

Benefits make up a significant portion of people spend — a company’s largest expense — making fresh, high-quality market data essential for allocating resources and building benefits programs that support your people and growth.

Fill out the form to Download the Sneak Peek of the 2025 Benefits Benchmarking Report — Enterprise Edition and unlock a selection of insights on how startups and fast-growing companies with 500 or more employees are designing their healthcare, wellbeing, leave, and retirement programs.

The full report is available exclusively to participants of Sequoia’s 2025 benefits survey — but this preview gives you a window into the data shaping benefits decisions today.

🏜️ Recap: Sequoia Company Offsite in AZ

⚠️ Mushy post alert ⚠️ 

I joined Sequoia five years ago. We were 400 people then.

Today, we’ve tripled in size. Working remotely, I hardly recognized the scale of what that means. Arizona changed that.

In that time frame, we’ve earned the trust of the vc-backed startup ecosystem. Not (just) because we sell a good product. But because we show up like no one else: as partners, advisors, and operators.

This week in Arizona reminded me of that.

At the kickoff, they offered us a lens. Four roles you could play:

  • A prisoner — resentful, stuck here, unwillingly.

  • A passenger — going through the motions, checked out.

  • A sophisticate — cynical and unimpressed.

  • Or an explorer — curious, engaged, ready to learn.

We are a company of explorers.

Every hallway conversation, breakout, and learning session confirmed it. People showed up. Not just physically. Fully. That’s rare. It’s special.

Since joining, I’ve grown a network faster than I ever expected. Spoken at events. Built deep roots in the startup space. Formed partnerships that stick.

And beyond client work, I’ve found meaning in the work behind the curtain — refining our approach, sharpening our message, and obsessing over how to make our craft even better.

I didn’t plan for that. But I’ve found purpose there.

To the teams who made this offsite what it was: thank you. Every aspect was intentional & thoughtful. And it paid off.

Next year starts now. Let’s keep exploring.

Pictured: the most experienced team in PEO

🌆 Event: VC Platform LA Happy Hour hosted by a16z& Wonder Ventures

Grateful for the VC Platform LA Happy Hour hosted by a16z and Wonder Ventures on their Santa Monica rooftop. An evening reconnecting with familiar faces, meeting new ones, and sharing insights across Platform, Community, Ops, and more.

Cocktails, mocktails, gnocchi, and great conversations in the tightknit LA tech ecosystem. Can’t ask for more than that.

Thanks to the hosts, Emlyn Thompson of a16z, the team at Wonder Ventures and the VC Platform community for such a memorable night

🚀 What I Learned This Week…

The AI Hardware Arms Race Begins

  • The Trend: Major tech companies are accelerating their investments in AI hardware to gain a competitive edge. We’re talking the next Apple (sorry, Apple) of tangible AI products.

  • Driving Factors: OpenAI's acquisition of Jony Ive's startup, io, for $6.5 billion aims to develop next-generation AI hardware. Google's I/O conference showcased 100 announcements, including a transformative "AI Mode" chatbot. Anthropic introduced its latest Claude 4 model series, boasting Claude Opus 4 as the world's most capable coding AI.

  • Implications: This surge in AI hardware development means ever-escalating competition for dominance and developer loyalty. Could be great for consumers, could not be. Then again, what are people?

China’s DIY Chip Era: Breaking Up with Nvidia (Kind Of)

  • The Trend: China’s biggest tech firms (i.e. Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu) are going full "!@#$ it, we’ll do it ourselves" mode and shifting away from Nvidia to homegrown chips like Huawei’s Ascend.

  • Driving Factors: AI dominance and mega funding rounds in infrastructure and foundational models, macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty fueling risk aversion, higher expectations for capital efficiency and profitability, and a sector rotation toward deep tech and robotics over SaaS and consumer startups… (gasps for air) so yes, there’s a lot going on.

  • Why This Matters: This could slow China’s AI progress in the short term, but long-term? It might spark a full-on domestic chip renaissance. Or at least a lot of very intense engineering sprints. Can we go one news cycle without a new “arms race?” (see above)

🔥 In Case You Missed It…

Other news:

  • AI's Newest Casualty? Gen Z's Looking For Jobs: SignalFire's 2025 State of Talent Report reveals a sharp decline in entry-level hiring, with new grad recruitment dropping 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels. As AI tools become more capable, companies are leaning on automation for tasks traditionally assigned to junior employees. This shift is leading to fewer opportunities for recent graduates, with Big Tech reducing new grad hires by 25% in 2024 compared to 2023.

  • AI Engineers Have Demands (And They’re Being Met): AI engineers are commanding premium compensation packages, with salaries up 5% and equity offerings 10–20% higher than other engineering roles. The surging demand for AI talent is reshaping compensation structures. Companies are willing to pay top dollar to win top talent.

Did You Know? According to the Navigating Total People Spend Report, most roles are seeing a significant year-over-year decline in the size of new hire equity packages… except for C-Suite. Investors love limiting equity burn, but the pressure is on companies to get their pay right more so than ever.

Talk soon,

Cris Cafiero

The Back Office Newsletter