Steve Blank: How to turn the tables on COVID-19

Starting Greatness with Mike Maples

Podcast Notes Key Takeaways The world around us is about to change dramatically“This is not a recession it’s a mass extinction event for a good number of businesses and industries” – Steve BlankHowever, in crisis comes opportunity“For founders and employees who fight the good fight, there will be a morning after, the sun will come up”Look at the top 5 things your company is buying to survive and what things you cut out from your budgetYou want your product to be on that top 5 buying list for your customersIn the last decade or so, startups forgot about revenue and profits, and instead went for blitzscaling but that is backfiring now“Which worked great until it didn’t” – Steve BlankNow is the time for startups to focus on generating revenue and hopefully profitsIf you’re a startup CEO right now, survival equals 3 things:(speed of understanding) x (magnitude of pivots and cuts) x (speed of time to make those changes)Before you start laying off employees, the founder and executives should cut their compensation, this will help build solidarity among employees“I’d be thinking about how do I eliminate the free food before I eliminate the hourly worker salary” – Steve Blank“If you’re going to go down, you might as well go down with people remembering how well you treated them”

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Many startups face difficult choices when it comes to overcoming COVID-19. In this special episode, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate interviews Steve Blank about techniques founders can use to shape circumstances rather than be shaped by them. Steve has a unique vantage point since he's weathered every dislocation affecting startups since 1978, including the 1987 crash, the dotcom bubble burst, and the 2008 financial crisis.