Startup Guide Issue 18 | Page 22

As we ’ r e a t e c hnol ogy c ompa ny , our end- t o- end oper a t i ons a r e a ut oma t ed wi t h no huma n i nt er a c t i on, e v en our c us t omer s uppor t i s on a v i r t ua l net wor k . As i t i s , a l l t hes e a ut oma t i ons a r e a pa r t of our oper a t i ons . A c r i s i s we f a c ed i n 2018 wa s t ha t our of fic e c a ught fir e a nd our ent i r e t ea m i nc l udi ng my s el f got s t uc k i n t he bui l di ng a nd t her e wer e a l s o t wo dea t hs . Due t o t he fir e, we wer e wi t hout our phones a nd c omput er s f or t wo a nd a ha l f mont hs . Dur i ng t hi s ent i r e t i me, t he c us t omer s di d not f a c e a ny i nt er r upt i ons i n s er v i c es a nd t her e wa s no s oc i a l a nnounc ement . Thi s i s be c a us e we ha v e our oper a t i ons or ga ni z ed a nd a ut oma t ed t o ha ndl e empl oy e es wor k i ng f r om home. We ha v e b e en f or t una t e t o ha v e t hes e s y s t ems i n pl a c e a nd t o be a bl e t o a c t i v a t e t hem i ns t a nt l y . Whi c h t ool s a r e y ou us i ng t o s t a y pr oduc t i v e a nd f or k eepi ng i n t ouc h wi t h y our t ea m? We us e a t ool c a l l ed Monda y , wher e we ’ d a l r ea dy be en f ol l owi ng a me c ha ni s m i n whi c h a l l t he del i v er a bl es of t he t ea m member s a r e c l ea r l y defined. We do a gr oup c a l l of t he ent i r e t ea m e v er y da y us i ng Googl e Ha ngout s - dur i ng t hes e c a l l s , we di s c us s a l l t he del i v er a bl es a nd ot her i t ems on t he a genda . Wh a t a r e y ou doi ng t o s t a y pos i t i v e? As a s t a r t up, we ’ r e not f oc us ed on bur ni ng c a s h - we ’ r e a v er y l ea n s t a r t up a nd we don’ t ne ed mi l l i ons c ons i s t ent l y f or s ur v i v a l . We ’ r e a pr ofit a bl e bus i nes s a nd we ’ r e gr a t ef ul t ha t we ’ r e s t a y i ng pos i t i v e dur i ng t hi s t i me. We ’ r e s t a y i ng pos i t i v e a nd t he t ea m i s ha ppy wor k i ng f r om home - wi t h our r emot e oper a t i ons , our t ea ms a r e us ed t o wor k i ng f r om home. Mor e t ha n a c ompa ny , we ’ r e a gr oup of pe opl e who a r e v er y c l os e t o ea c h ot her , s o we k e ep doi ng mor e v i de o c a l l s a nd pl a y ga mes r emot el y s omet i mes t o c ope wi t h wor k i ng a wa y f r om ea c h ot her f or t he t i me bei ng. Thi s cr i s i s has s hown us t hat t he wor l d wi l l be di f f er ent once we move pas t t hi s s i t uat i on. How wi l l you pi vot and what woul d you do di f f er ent l y i n a pos t - Cor ona wor l d? As a f ou n de r , I s e e t h a t s ome t h i n g s wi l l n e e d t o b e don e di f f e r e n t l y . Wh i l e ou r b u s i n e s s mode l i s n ot s u c h t h a t we n e e d t o p i v ot , we h a v e r e a l i z e d a f e w t h i n g s t h a t we wou l d a d d a s a f e a t u r e i n ou r t e c h n ol og y . Af t e r t h i s , we s e e a l ot of di g i t a l a dop t i on t a k i n g p l a c e on c e t h i s p a s s e s I n s h a l l a h b e c a u s e we b e l i e v e t h a t a l l t h e p e op l e wh o h a d n ot b e e n doi n g di g i t a l t r a n s a c t i on s b e f or e t h i s w ou l d n ow b e a dop t i n g di g i t a l t e c h n ol og i e s . I f we l ook a t t h i s p os i t i v e l y , t h i s i s a g ood s i g n f or t h e m i n t e r ms of a b i g g e r op p or t u n i t y f or i n c r e a s e d t e c h a dop t i on .