Ensuring the health of your business amid the coronavirus crisis
Some sage words on how to ensure the health of your business while dealing with potential business consequences of the spreading effects of the coronavirus.
This commentary is from an email sent to associates of companies that Equitable Investors and its associates are either currently shareholders in or maintain a close interest in. We don't often communicate in this manner but wanted to share with you some key points made by leading VC firm Sequoia Capital to its investments - the comments come from deep experience and we could not express them better ourselves.
Facing Challenges
Question Every Assumption
This commentary is from an email sent to associates of companies that Equitable Investors and its associates are either currently shareholders in or maintain a close interest in. We don't often communicate in this manner but wanted to share with you some key points made by leading VC firm Sequoia Capital to its investments - the comments come from deep experience and we could not express them better ourselves.
Facing Challenges
- Some companies have seen their growth rates drop sharply between December and February
- Supply chain disruption can have cascading effects
- Companies that depend on in-person meetings for sales or business development are being affected.
Question Every Assumption
- Do you really have as much cash runway as you think?
- What would you do if fundraising on attractive terms proves difficult in 2020 and 2021?
- Anticipate that your customers may revise their spending habits
- You might even want to consider raising the bar on ROI for marketing spend
- Time to evaluate critically whether you can do more with less
- Examine whether your capital spending plans are sensible in a more uncertain environment
"nobody ever regrets making fast and decisive adjustments to changing circumstances"
those who survive “are not the strongest or the most intelligent, but the most adaptable to change."
Read the full note from Sequoia here: Coronavirus: The Black Swan of 2020