5 Takeaways from Top Business Leaders on #CopingwithCovid

During this strange time where Bamboo’s community is battling Covid19, we’re hosting live weekly interviews with top leaders to help us all survive and thrive. 

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What have I learned? A ton so far. We put together a few of our top pieces of advice we’re hearing to help you stay inspired during these trying weeks. All the interviews are available to review here on Crowdcast. Check our calendar for the next live Coping with Covid sessions. 

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Take care of yourself as a leader - Dug Song, Duo Security. (Watch his talk here.)  During our talk with Dug Song, founder of Duo Security, we dove into how important it is to take care of yourself first. You have to have your oxygen mask on before you can take care of others. As a leader or business owner, you’re often taking care of yourself, your team, and your community. We talked about ways to find joy and service during this time. We also talked about having empathy and understanding with our teams who are not just working at home, but also working at home during a pandemic. 

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We have been through economic hardship before and there are lessons that can help us now - Investors Steve O’Hara & Gretchen Knoell shared this message with us (watch their talk here) as they spoke on their top takeaways from navigating past economic crises. Steve was operating a company during the dot.com bubble when he had to lay off a majority of his employees to survive an economic downturn. He believes at times of crises we learn to strengthen our businesses, cut back on unnecessary  spending or business models that aren’t profitable. Gretchen Knoell also shared what to expect with valuations and investors during a down market. 

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No matter what, operate and speak with integrity - Lindsey Walenga of Siren PR (watch her talk here) spoke with us on how to navigate tough conversations during tough times. The biggest takeaway? What you say and what you do must always align now more than ever. As a leader you must operate with integrity. She gave us tactful strategies for practicing the tough conversations many leaders may have to face during Covid19. This was a really great session. 

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Realize there may be no back to normal -  Brad Feld, Techstars & Foundry Group (watch his talk here). We were excited to talk to Brad Feld, who’s company Techstars helps others startup and scale their businesses around the world. Brad talked to us about realizing that we are all experiencing loss, making space to honor that loss, and  accepting the reality. His view is that we are fighting three crises all intertwined: health, economic, and mental health. There may not be a “normal” after lock down and customer behavior may change. Watch out for that and begin to prepare. He also shared tactful advice on taking things “week by week” as the news and each situation is fluid.

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Startups should build or find your “minimal sellable product” - Marc Hudson, Co-founder Rocket Fiber (watch his talk here). While we work to cut our costs and operate in a new mode given our different states of business, Marc shared with us his tactful financial strategies to adjust to this market crises. He also shared that for those starting a company now, work to find a minimal sellable product to get out there and make sales during the coming downturn. Instead of investing a ton in a new product, what can you build leanly that works, and adds value for your customers?

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We hope these talks are helpful. Make sure to join us throughout April for more live webinars, workshops, and events at Bamboo. 

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We can’t wait to get back to coworking with you in Detroit, but in the meantime stay safe, stay home, and stay inspired.