The Road Untraveled: VC Perspectives with Brian Hollins

Courtney Reum, Founder, M13

1. Double down on transparency and communication with your investors and employees.

2. Consumer companies will have to bridge the frustrations in delivery lag by creating unique messaging and a sense of community to capture customers.

3. Founders should think hard about how to not self-isolate during these lonely times. Expand your ecosystem, bring on founders and others to bounce ideas and share best practices.

Amy Wu, Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners

Key Takeaways:

1. Teams should think about stress-testing for both "COVID impact" as well as "recession impact".

2. Great companies are founded & funded in times like this. Funds will continue to search for high quality opportunities to add to their portfolio.

3. Industries with potential tailwinds: gaming, online grocery, productivity, tele-medecine. 

Breton Birkhofer, Principle, Prologis Ventures

Key Takeaways:

1. Companies should think critically about the total cost of layoffs, as they also should include the cost of hiring and retraining.

2. The depth and length of the demand shock is still unclear, and it is hard to know just how severe the knock on effects across the supply chain will be for some time.

3. The theory of nice to have vs need to have is being brought to the forefront, and many companies will find out whether or not they are considered critical by their employees as budgets get re-evaluated.

Matt Higgins, CEO @ RSE Ventures / Vice Chairman @ Miami Dolphins

Key Takeaways:

1. Every conversation should start "how can I help you". Investors should think about ways they can relieve their teams of items that have long lead times.

2. The future belongs to the content creators. Build a community and build empathy to your end customer.

3. Teams should look for opportunities to play offense, not just defense.

4. Industries will become more efficient on the other side of this, with tele-medicine adopted much more widely.

Ann DeWitt, General Partner, The Engine

Key Takeaways:

1. This pandemic is highlighting the importance of "tough tech" companies and accelerating their ability to reach milestones and engage customers. 

2. Global issues have been localized as a result of COVID19, and the resulting collaboration of teams working to solve issues like climate change will have a positive long term impact on society.  

3. Founders should continue to think critically about how to operationalize the efforts of their team and ensure continued momentum through these times.

Nikhil Basu Trivedi, Managing Director, Shasta Partners

Key Takeaways:

1. There are a number of behavioral changes that are happening through this environment that will shape the strategy of companies born in the near future.

2. The health of your employee base should be of paramount focus. That includes ensuring that founders monitor themselves.

3. New leaders will be accelerated into leadership positions as a result of this pandemic, and funds will look more diverse as a result.     

Jim Mawson, Founder and CEO 

Key Takeaways:

1. Corporate VC's can be instrumental in helping their portfolio companies not only have the funding to get through, but a perspective of a customer on how to engage during these times.

2. Debt may become a more compelling financing instrument if equity and VC funding becomes more expensive.

3. In the short term we may see Nationalization and more domestic investing as countries get more protective of the companies being built on their soil. Longer term, value and capital will flow to good companies regardless of where they are built.

Jeff Cherry, CEO, Shift Ventures

Key Takeaways:

1. There is opportunity to invest in short term solutions that get us through the times, but it's also important to focus on "the next big things", and those companies are still being built.

2. Try to get your founders focused on solving the little things- with so much on their plates, paralysis can set in and lead to a lack of execution.

3. Have authentic, transparent conversations with your investors and employees...it will go a long way.

Shawn Merani, Founder and Managing Partner, Parade Ventures

Key lessons for founders and emerging managers that are preparing to fight COVID19.

Key Takeaways:

1. Bolstering the balance sheet and identifying opportunities to extend runway is one of the most important things a founder can do right now.

2. This process (and pending layoffs) will likely make teams more disciplined, and more aware of where their product is strong and sticky. They likely come out more focused after COVID19.

3. There will be very strong talent available on the market after this, and teams should be on the lookout for engineers and technical talent that otherwise would not be as available.

4. More important than ever to identify your "tribe" and figure out who is in your corner and answering your calls during tough times.

Andrea Hoffman, Founder and CEO, Culture Shift Labs

Andrea Hoffman and Culture Shifting Labs, among other things, is committed to the success of the Black and Latinx VC community. Through these tough times, she and her partners (including Denmark West) are working to identify the LP's and allies that want to continue and even accelerate this work.

Key Takeaways

1. Founders should be sensitive to the accommodations of the new work day for employees. 

2. Now is the time to be more diverse and inclusive.

3. There is no shame in asking for help during these times. Be specific and ask for "mentorship for today" from those who may have been through prior recessions.