SAN FRANCISCO—Messaging startup Hustle projected the picture of Silicon Valley largess. The company spent millions of dollars raised from investors such as Alphabet Inc.GOOGL 0.54% on expensive new hires, on-tap kombucha, arcade games and a six-figure salary for its pedigreed chief executive.
So it came as a shock to many employees earlier this month when co-founder and CEO Roddy Lindsay sent them an early-morning email announcing mass layoffs. Before the week was done, even the espresso machine was ripped out of the kitchen at Hustle’s San Francisco headquarters.