According to Crunchbase, more than 17,000 tech workers have lost jobs since the start of this year. That’s painful, but for perspective: TechCrunch tracked more than 100,000 tech layoffs between August and December 2008.

In my experience, founders and investors usually come out unscathed on the other side of events like these. For below-the-line employees, however, unexpected layoffs can be life-changing: One former product manager I used to work with now sells residential real estate, and another works in public health.

As I’ve said previously, if your name doesn’t appear on the team slide of your company’s pitch deck, this is a time to be cautious: Update your resume, dial back your summer vacation plans and start adding more to your rainy day fund.

Building a company is a high-stakes effort, so here’s a promise: I won’t approve articles with advice for navigating this downturn unless the author has direct experience with the matter.

Before Karl Alomar became managing partner of VC firm M13, he led one company through the dot-com bust of 2000 and helped another survive the Great Recession of 2008.

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“The key difference between 2022 and previous downturns is that this contraction was anticipated for a long time, whereas the previous downturns were far more sudden,” he says.

Alomar shared eight elements entrepreneurs should consider in this environment, including his top-level advice that anyone fundraising should pin down at least two years of runway.

“Investors will likely remain on the sidelines for the most part as the markets settle and a new set of comparable multiples has been established,” Alomar said. “This might take a little time.”

On Wednesday, June 29, at 2:30 p.m. ET, Karl Alomar will join me in a Twitter Space to share more strategic advice for fundraising during a downturn. To get a reminder, follow @techcrunch and @techcrunchplus.