Commentary: Turning disaster into a driving force

Dear Readers,

Remember your big plans for 2020? Like, say, wanting to grow by 10x on all fronts? 😂

You may have started to feel that it’s gonna be extra challenging to reach your ambitious goals, especially as Covid-19 continues to spread rapidly across the world. (Note: We’re trying to assess how the novel coronavirus has affected tech businesses in Asia. If you have three minutes, please share your thoughts with us via this survey.)

Apart from its disastrous impact on public health, the disease outbreak has disrupted business, frustrating a lot of founders and operators in various industries. The current situation looks something like this:

1. People are staying at home to avoid getting sick. Naturally, offline retailers as well as the travel, transportation, and events sectors aren’t doing well.

2. Understandably, affected businesses are cutting down on spending.

3. In turn, this triggers other businesses to slash costs too, regardless of whether such a measure is truly needed or not.

4. As more businesses suffer, fearmongering kicks in and this cycle continues, potentially putting us into an economic recession.

I’m worried too, particularly when events are a significant part of Tech in Asia’s business. But I believe it’s more productive to take action and implement changes instead of just fretting about it.

Screengrab from Crocodile in the Yangtze – The Alibaba Story

A kind friend passed along a document that details how Alibaba responded to the SARS epidemic 17 years ago. One of the steps that the Chinese tech giant took was to turn a bad situation into a driving force – a lesson I wholeheartedly agree with.

We can use this opportunity to find weaknesses in the company and make improvements. Another positive approach is to think about the business’ longer-term prospects and prepare for the future.

I find myself discussing this topic more and more with my wife and also other founders. While the prevailing mood is mostly doom and gloom, I’m also excited to see how things will turn out in the end. It’s survival of the fittest, and I’m confident that our team, culture, and values can tide us through this tough period.

I’m closing this week’s commentary with an inspiring quote from Alibaba’s SARS guidance: “People’s mindsets are usually built from experience and challenges. Victories often belong to those who can face difficulties and survive.”