Normally, if you’re looking to compete with a late-stage Company like Uber or Lyft and you have a Rideshare company- God bless you – you have no chance of winning. However, we are not in that moment anymore! Right now – today- we are in the corona moment. This means that these later-stage companies are running for their hills, they are crying in their milk. It is not even the CEO’s fault or the management team’s fault. It’s the Venture Capital Playbook! So what happens is this, as your company gets to a series A, definitely a B or a C and you hit a stage like this with venture capitals expecting a major downturn, they tell you to reduce your expenses by 40 to 50%. Now, many of those expenses are going to be your stuff. That’s why we see ClassPass being slashed by 52% of their employees. That’s why we see the other large venture firms slashing people only one month into this damn crisis. On some level it’s a disgrace and actually questions should and will be asked after this crisis is over.
But for right now, let’s focus on how early-stage startups can win and win big! Because you don’t need to slash your calls, you don’t need to slash your stuff. You need to fight! You need to go after the territory that your larger competitors are giving up. So take my advice, get out there today. I don’t care if it’s a Sunday or Monday or Tuesday or what day it is – do not stop! Make this the most aggressive time you’ve ever had. Take 1099, get independent contractors, get interns, get friends, get family, get your wife, get your husband – get them all! Line them up – go proper Mel Gibson style. This is the Patriot, this is when you get your militia and you go out and you take the market share that your larger giant competitors are too afraid to go after. So go out there, do it- take the business, take the market. Be a Beast startup and be like all those other great unicorns that rose in the time of great recessions.
Good luck!