Restartup: a founder's guide to crisis navigation

TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword xi Preface xiii Acknowledgements xxiii About the Authors xxv 1 Even Shit Floats in High Tide 1 Introduction 1 The Macros Matter 3 Capitalism: The Pyramid Scheme 4 Tier 0 5 Tier 1 5 Tier 2 5 Tier 3 5 Tier 4 7 Tier 5 8 Role of the Central Banks and Regulators 8 Virtuous Cycles 10 The Wealth Effect 14 An Interplay of Incentives 14 Investor Dilemma 17 Conclusion 20 2 Hindsight's 2020 23 Introduction 23 Structural versus Event-Driven Crises 24 Structural 25 Event-Driven 25 The Crisis Timeline 26 Black Monday 1987 27 Dot-Com Bubble 1999-2000 29 The Great Recession of 2008 31 The Year of Crises - 2020 35 If It Smells Like Funk 38 Greed Is Good, or Is It? 38 Consistent Overvaluation 39 Failed Funding Rounds 39 Down Rounds 40 Funding Gaps 40 Data Collection 42 Ecosystem Pulse 43 Team 44 Product 45 Competition 47 Funding 48 Conclusion 49 3 Be Your Own Shrink 53 Introduction 53 Crisis Is Here 54 Put on Your Seat Belt First 54 The Emotional Gym 56 Organisational Emotional Fitness 60 You and Your Business: A 3D Model 61 Passion 62 Skills 63 Demand 64 Step Away 64 Switch Off or Snooze 65 Mentoring 67 Executive Coaching 68 Connect and Inspire 68 Conclusion 70 4 The Surgical Strike 73 Introduction 73 The Startup Bell Curve 75 A 3D Plan of Action 77 Survive: First-Order Optimisation 77 Normalise: Second-Order Optimisation 77 Thrive: Third-Order Optimisation 78 First-Order Optimisation 79 CashFlow Is Oxygen 80 Soul Searching 81 What's the Heart of Your Business? 82 Where Are You Relevant? 84 Is Your Cost Structure Optimal? 85 Scenario Planning 87 The Soul versus Value Quadrant 88 Cold Decisions, Humane Execution 91 Communication Architecture 92 Clients: Increase Incoming 95 Suppliers and Vendors: Decrease Outgoing 97 The Firm: Align Culture 98 Team: Handle with Care 99 What Next? 103 Conclusion 104 5 Check Your Mirrors 107 Introduction 107 Second-Order Optimisation 108 The Who 110 The Why 112 The How Much 115 The How 118 Ask Them 118 Get Them 119 Understand Them 120 Behaviour versus Value 123 Conclusion 126 6 Map the Trip 127 Introduction 127 Infrastructure 128 Policy Infrastructure 128 Payment Services Directive (PSD 2) 130 Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies 131 India's Aadhaar 132 Drug Discovery 134 Technology Infrastructure 134 Rise of the Machines 135 AWS and Innovation 136 Broadband and Video Genre 137 Ecosystem Infrastructure 139 Talent Infrastructure 139 Funding Infrastructure 141 The Missing Link 145 Conclusion 147 7 From Fiats to Ferraris 149 Introduction 149 The 4D Lens 150 Time: Longevity 151 Time: Velocity 151 Space: Scale 152 Space: Weight 152 The Business Model Barometer 153 Contractually Predictable 155 Enterprise Software 155 Software as a Service (SaaS) 156 Subscription 157 Behaviourally Predictable 158 Advertising 160 Transactional 161 Hybrid 162 Marketplace 162 Mix, Match and Moonshot 164 Conclusion 167 8 Hit Refresh 169 Introduction 169 Third-Order Optimisation 170 The Pirate Metrics 171 Shades of Grey 172 Preserve the Soul 175 Continue Experimentation 176 Build for a Crisis 177 Tip 1: Values Make or Break Firms 179 Tip 2: It's the Team, Idiot 180 Tip 3: Decentralising Decision-Making 181 Tip 4: Data-Driven Accountability 182 Tip 5: Embracing Cost Consciousness 182 Tip 6: Growing Responsibly 183 Tip 7: Tapping into a Support Network 184 Tip 8: Mind the Mind 184 Conclusion 187 9 Winner Winner Chicken Dinner 189 Introduction 189 The Macro Environment 190 What History Tells Us 191 Wear Your Mask First 194 Cold Decisions and Humane Execution 197 Customer Is King 200 Infrastructure Catalysts 203 Business Model Evaluation 206 All Change 208 Conclusion 212 Glossary 215 Index 221

During a market boom, startup funding is in abundance. But when a financial crisis hits, investments dry up, making it difficult for newer, smaller outfits to survive. During a period of economic instability, that task might seem even harder. However, a crisis doesn't have to mean it's time to shut up shop. Restartup shows how it's possible-by choosing to embrace instability and seizing the new opportunities it provides-to stay afloat, and even to thrive. Arunkumar Krishnakumar and Maxson Tee -tech investor, influencer, blogger, and podcaster- use case studies and in-depth interviews with VCs, CEOs, and academics to flesh-out anecdotal crisis-survival frameworks. They introduce you to the concepts, tools and techniques to help you sail through an economic storm. The money pyramid-understand your crisis financing options Mental Health - drop the societal taboo for the wellbeing of the company and the founders Fundraising psychology-go beyond the deck and the proposition to get inside your investor's head Operational efficiencies-know how to cut back but still hold onto your top people Embrace the suck-see how a crisis can open up unexpected opportunities Don't let a crisis go to waste: stop worrying and use the proven ideas in this book to turn instability into opportunity-and embrace the wild ride to survival and success.