Sessions: Another AI Startup in Trouble

CEO Admits on LinkedIn they are 4 weeks late with payroll.

I’ve previously reviewed Sessions as a fantastic Zoom alternative - unfortunately, like many AI-related startups, they are now having cashflow issues.

Here’s the CEO’s LinkedIn post:

We’re four weeks late with payroll at SESSIONS, with just $10k in cash and almost $1 million in debt.

In the past 16 months, the market has gone bananas.
Due to all the pressure, we lost our cofounder, our CTO, and several key players.

European Venture Capital is confusing and quite broken.
We were almost randomly killed last year.

Guess what? We’re still standing—because WE. DO. NOT. QUIT.

It would be easy to walk away now and say we failed.

But we’ve never taken the easy path, and we’re not starting now. SESSIONS isn’t just a startup—it’s a movement, something millions will depend on. We’re just months away from serving those millions and a few years from taking SESSIONS public.

We’re fighting back with everything we’ve got. And we’re doing it in the most radical way possible—right in front of you.

From this moment on, we’re not just building a company; we’re building a revolution. We’ll share every triumph, every setback, every single step of our journey out of this hell. You’ll see our numbers, our challenges, and our relentless push to victory.

Here’s our battle plan:

1) Crowdfunding Campaign: We’re launching a crowdfunding round on WeFunder. We’ll be live next week. I’ll be cold-calling and emailing anyone who hasn’t fully disconnected this summer. Expect to hear from me.

2) Mega Product Drop: We’re releasing a LIFETIME DEAL that will blow the roof off. Last year, we grossed over $2 million in weeks—this time, we’re aiming higher.

3) Global Expansion: We’re charging into India and Brazil full throttle. We will localize, be extremely aggressive on pricing, and go all in with local partners.

4) Relocating HQ: We’re moving our headquarters from Bucharest to Palo Alto. The European start-up ecosystem is confused and dying - meaningless and hard to build from here. Silicon Valley is building the future - we go and help.

5) Doubling Down on Execution: We’ll deliver like crazy. Maintaining operational continuity is already a top priority—we’ll probably have no discontinuities. Support may slow down for a few weeks.

6) We Become a Content Production Machine: We’ll document everything, creating a library of truth for every founder and builder struggling in this crazy ecosystem.

We’re opening Pandora’s box, taking on a system that’s crushing the best minds of our generation. We’re raging against the mediocrity imposed by those disconnected from the reality of building something from nothing.

This is our moment of truth.

Comment “GO RADU GO” to stand with us or “BIG NO” if you think we’re out of our minds. This is the fight of our lives, and we will win.

Long live the builders. Long live the risk-takers. Long live progress.

Stay tuned. The revolution starts now.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Please drop me your thoughts, and I’ll reply to everything.

🫡

Well, this is a huge bummer. I hope that Sessions can get through this hump, but moving to a high-tax state with a ton of regulations (California) is the absolute worst move for a company in dire straits, as many (and myself) have already pointed out in the comments. (Speaking as someone who previously fled California to Austin, Texas!)

Sessions could do well, but it needs better marketing. It does NOT need California!

Zoom is terrible software; it is a resource hog that nags you constantly about stupid, obvious stuff (i.e., the long-winded “you are chatting as a guest” finger wagging). Zoom hangs constantly for me and I refuse to give that company a dime. But they have first-to-market advantage, and most people are too scared of new technologies to venture out into the wild world of finding something better.

It will be a miracle if Sessions survives this cash shortfall, but they can if they are smart and fill in some of the gaps.

Companies like GoBrunch have created great virtual environments that are customizable and fun, but they work less well as a regular video conferencing platform. If Sessions can continue to offer reliable basic video conferencing with AI transcripts and notes, and add just a touch of community and/or coworking capabilities, I think they can be a winner.

But they have to act fast. Employers aren’t going to stay on board when payroll is a month late.

Should you invest in Sessions if they launch crowdfunding and/or another AppSumo deal? That’s up to you and your level of risk, but I like the company enough to say they are worth the shot if you have money to blow.

Plus, we need to stick it to big tech behemoths like Zoom. We cannot let tech monopolies flourish.