Anupam Mittal, a prominent entrepreneur and judge on Shark Tank India, has shared his personal experience of being laid off during the 2001 dot-com crash. In a recent LinkedIn post, he warned against the increasing trend of glorifying entrepreneurship as the sole solution for those affected by the current wave of tech layoffs. He emphasized that while he felt a sense of 'free fall' after his layoff, the context of today's job cuts is different. In 2026, companies like Oracle are financially stable, yet they are still conducting layoffs to enhance efficiency, not due to financial distress. Mittal criticized the prevalent advice suggesting that laid-off workers should start their own companies, labeling it as 'Fortune cookie wisdom' and highlighting the brutal reality of startup life, where the survival rate is low. He stressed the importance of professionals understanding their roles within their organizations, particularly in relation to profit-and-loss statements, to assess their job security. According to reports, over 92,000 tech workers have lost their jobs globally in the first five months of 2026, with April marking the worst month for tech job cuts in two years.