A couple of days ago the CEO and founders of Sequoia Capital, one of the biggest VC standing behind such success stories as Dropbox, LinkedIn or Stripe, has openly published a letter they have sent to their partners providing guidance on protecting their business as well as dealing with consequences of the spreading effects of the coronavirus.
Sequoia businesses are present in many regions around the world so they are gaining first-hand information on the impact coronavirus has on global business and the challenges companies need to face as a result of the virus outbreak. So far the main problems global business needs to face are identified as follows:
General slow-down of any business activities
Many companies have experienced a significant slow down in their business growth, some of them will probably have problems meeting their planned goals for Q1-2020.
Source: undraw.co
Disruptions of the supply chain
China is the world's largest supplier of ... many goods. The scale of an industry lockdown in China is huge and its seriously affecting the global supply chain. The modern software industry might not feel the slow-down as much as other sectors as it's not influenced by the supply chain distribution but is still exposed to the risk indirectly.
Business trips & meetings cancelations
The no-travel policy has been applied to many companies. Some of them are banning all international travels, some just those non-essential for their businesses.
Source: undraw.co
Sequoia Capital team suggest questioning each assumption crucial to your business functioning especially those: cash runway, fundraising, sales forecast, marketing spend, headcount, capital spending.
Remember that as with all crises, revenue and cash levels always fall much faster than expenses. Be prepared to respond to changing circumstances and remember that same as in nature the most adaptable to change will survive. IF you want to read the full letter sent out by the VC, it's available on Sequoia Capital Publications on Medium.
Be vigilant, stay healthy & keep your business in good health!
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Top comments (10)
Bit of a shame to see articles like this on dev.to. You can't look anywhere online without seeing some worrying news story about the virus. I just wanted to read some code stuff without being reminded.
And people profiting from clickbait articles to promote themselves.
Seeing all these people and companies try to prioritise profit over health is repulsive
Do you mean the last section of the article? This is the way all posts of mine builds. I am not gonna change it because of the virus. I could say the same about this kind of comment, but whats the point? The virus generates negative emotions, this is understandable, we need to calm down.
Sorry, you can't ignore the impact it has on the global economy which the dev sector is definitely a part of. The virus has a huge impact on dev business and will define how your work routine might look like in the nearest future. Sad, worrying but 100% real.
I feel like you made this article because you knew scared people would click it, rather than a desire to inform people. Nothing in the article really relates to development.
As a freelancer unfortunately some of my clients cancelled or postponed projects for Q2 due to the current situation. The point of the article I think is not to scare people but to be aware of huge change in economics, where all sectors will be affected.
As HUGE our society is, a little virus spreading around is crushing it.
The question that should we ask ourself is: How can we help with development against the virus? How can we be prepared to face the corona virusa as software devs?
Joining the previous comments in finding your promotion very inappropriate.
Same here
I find this article useful, not scaremongering, and not offensive.
I do feel like DEV is a bit more geared or tailored to all things coding, so I understand the comments posted here. I've been posting articles from a management/leadership point of view and there is a small audience for that.
Conversely, I'd like to see more articles targeted to people with similar roles than mine (I'm a Development Manager, but still get my hands dirty from time to time).
It would be amazing to have a forum like DEV, or maybe a corner of DEV, dedicated to leaders and managers.
Thank you!