Dear entrepreneurs,

As the world and humanity goes through a challenging period, we’re all trying our best to follow the news and progress in a calmly manner. Since its emergence, Covid-19 spread rapidly, prompting some permanent changes to our personal relationships as well as our work lives. Besides the news about the life gradually going back to normal in China, unfortunately, the disease still continues to spread and take lives in other parts of the World, primarily Europe.

As the crisis goes on, industries and business models are prone to radical changes. While many industries go through bottleneck, most companies realize that they cannot grow or even survive with their existing business models and methods.

With survivalpath.co we are creating a movement that we hope will help you focus on the risks and opportunities that the current situation brings, on reevaluating your operations, and on the actions required to survive and to carry your business to the next level.

Our aim is to, with the input of the entire startup ecosystem, create an environment where startups can move towards a winning business model by providing them with tools and methods that will support these enterprises in finding ways to go through the crisis with minimum damage and ways to rapid growth. /read more

Covid-19 /add resource

The Coronavirus outbreak, declared as a pandemic on March 11, 2020 by the World Health Organization, has infected more than 1.289.380 people worldwide of which 70.590 died since its emergence late december. Now spread to at least 168 countries, the virus is known to have originated from a seafood and poultry market in Wuhan, China.

It all began when several unknown pneumonia like cases were reported in China in late December. A few days later the researchers in China identified a new virus that caused respiratory illness. Soon after other countries began reporting cases of the new Coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Countries began putting in place some preventative measures beginning with travel restrictions and going as far as governmental lockdowns. However, despite the efforts to contain the virus, Covid-19 spread rapidly, distressing not only the health sector but also the economy and the businesses.

Impact /add resource

As Covid-19 continues to spread rapidly, the preventive measures, such as travel restrictions and lockdowns, taken both by public and private sectors coupled with the changes and disruptions in demand for goods and services are affecting the global economies, stock markets, and industries worldwide.

BBC reports that “the FTSE, Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nikkei have all seen huge falls since the outbreak began on 31 December”. Moreover, the central banks in more than 50 countries are cutting the interest rate in efforts to strengthen their economies.

Through this process, airline companies along with the travel and hospitality sectors took the biggest hit, closely followed by the retail sector, as the production and manufacturing experienced disruptions.

Overall, the investments are put on hold. Unemployment is expected to rise whereas wages are expected to fall.

Resources:

• Covid-19 Pandemic and the Middle East and Central Asia: Region Facing Dual Shock, IMFBlog
• How to Coronavirus Outbreak Will Stress Test Startups, TechCrunch
• Covid-19 Implications for Businesses, McKinsey & Company
• Making Sense of the Economic Impact of the Coronavirus, Harvard Business Review
• Covid-19 Impacts on Supply Chain Logistics, ReliefWeb
• Coronavirus Impact on Supply Chain, Institute for Supply Management
• What Could the Venture Market Look Like in the Coronavirus Era, Tomasz Tunguz
• Coronavirus Maps, NY Times
• Coronavirus Timeline, NY Times
• Coronavirus: A Visual Guide to Economic Impact, BBC
• Responding to Covid-19, Oliver Wyman
• The COVID-19 Crisis Is Transforming the Way We Use Software, Learning Hub
• How to Survive a Recession and Thrive Afterward, Harvard Business Review
• Bill Gates makes a prediction about when coronavirus cases will peak, CNN
• Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases, Johns Hopkins University
• Coronavirus Latest Updates, Worldometer
• Two economic scenarios for the impact of coronavirus on the US, CNN
• Coronavirus: Recession, Response, Recovery, Morgan Stanley
• How does the coronavirus outbreak end?, Vox
• Coronavirus Travel Restrictions, Across the Globe, The New York Times
• Coronavirus Resources & Readings, Andreessen Horowitz
• Türkiye’deki girişimcilerden COVID-19’u yenmek için kolektif destek…, Erman Turan
• Corona Panel, Asteya Network
• COVID-19 Salgınında Tüketici Davranışları ve Marka Algısı, Pazarlamasyon
• The Virus Changed the Way We Internet, The New York Times
• Yönetici Özeti 15 Dakikada Türkiye ve Dünya Özeti, Mazars Denge
• Covid-19 Küreselde Hızlandırma Programlarını Nasıl Etkiledi?, Girişim Fabrikası
• World COVID-19 Stats, nCOV2019
• What Will the World Be Like After Coronavirus? Four Possible Futures, SingularityHub
• Balaji Srinivasan on Recode incident, techlash history, potential COVID-19 endgames & more, This Week In Startups
• Covid-19 Virüsünün Dijital Medya ve Mobil Üzerindeki Etkisi, MMA Türkiye
• COVID-19: Briefing Materials, McKinsey & Company

The most affected industries /add resource

• Travel
• Hospitality
• Retail
• Oil & Gas

Rising industries /add resource

• E-commerce
• WFH tools
• Online businesses
• Gig economy
• Telemedicine
• Medical supplies & pharmaceuticals

Resources:

• What Investors are Saying About Startups in the Age of Coronavirus, MobiHealthNews
• These Industries are More Likely to Shed Jobs but One Sector Looks Recession Proof, Market Watch

Crisis Management /add resource

You should start by asking these Questions /add resource

• Defining the crisis
• What’s our position?
• What this crisis will bring to us?

Then, once you’ve answered those questions continue by Creating Plans /add resource

• Crisis Management
• Business continuity plan
• Communication Plans
  • Internal
  • External

Resources:

• COVID-19: Managing Supply Chain Risk and Disruption, Deloitte
• Responding to Covid-19, PWC
• Business Continuity 8 Steps Building Plan, bdc*
• Covid-19 HR & People Ops Prep, LifeLabs

As a next step communicate to the stakeholder who are listed below and manage Stakeholders’ Relations /add resource

• Customer
• Partner
• Investor
• Board
• Team
• Service providers

Resources:

• Communicating to & Guiding Customers During Covid-19, MaRS

Conducting a multi-faceted Company Health Check is crucial. Here are the most important categories that you should pay attention to analyze /add resource

• Customers
• Business model
• Business plan
• Team
• Operations
• Marketing
• Sales
• Financials
• Legal

Resources:

• Coronavirus: The Black Swan of 2020, Sequoia

Once you complete the company health check to determine the current condition of your business, it’s time to move on to the New phase, where you’ll evaluate how you might adapt to the changing environment. Here are the three important steps of the New Phase /add resource

• Risk mapping
• Exploring opportunities
• Establishment of new strategy

Resources:

• The Virus Survival Strategy for Your Startup, Steve Blank
• Overcoming Covid-19 Through Pandemic Preparedness, Gartner Research
• Coronavirus Survival Guide Checklist for Startups, Idean Consulting
• Lower Your Startup Risk with This Template, Code Corps
• The Startup Entrepreneur’s Guide to Risk Management, Business Insider
• The 2007-09 Financial Crisis: Learning the Risk Management Lessons, Dr Simon Ashby
• Turning Crisis into an Opportunity, Bangkok Post
• Coronavirus and the New Normal for Startups, Forbes
• How to Weather the Storm for Enterprise Startups, Jonathan Lehr
• The Covid-19 Action Plan for Early Stage Startups, Inventiva
• Rebound Metrics, Viveka
• Reading List for Leaders in Uncertain Times, Andreessen Horowitz
• Digital Transformation, Startup Commons
• Ecosystem Operator, Startup Commons
• 28 Moves to Survive (& Thrive) in a Downturn, NFX

Optimization /add resource

Here you can find the steps of the optimization phase. These are some general tools and as you scroll you’ll find more specific ones.

• How to make money
  • Business Model
  • Business Plan
• How to extend runway
  • Infrastructure
  • Operations
  • Headcount
  • Compensation
  • Marketing expenses
  • Office related expenses and capital expenses
  • Managing cash flow
  • Customer & investor relations
  • Agreements
• Working from home
  • Alignment
  • Communication
  • Tools
  • Teaching & Learning Source
  • Performance

Resources:

• Guide to All-Remote, Gitlab
• Remote Working: Setting Yourself and Your Teams Up for Success, LinkedIn
• Guide to Managing Your Newly Remote Workers, Harvard Business Review
• How to Stay Motivated When You’re Working Remotely, Time Doctor
• Work From Home In A Pandemic, BBC
• Remote Work Wiki, Notion
• All-Remote Learning and Development, Gitlab
• Navigating Volatility and Distress During Covid -19, Deloitte
• How Long Is Your Startup Runway, Corl
• EY Covid-19 Guide, EY
• 8 Tips on How Startups Can Survive Covid-19, GeekWire
• Using Strategy to Change Your Business Model, Business Strategy Review
• Successful Startup Pivots, Business News Daily
• Updating Your Business Plan, Entrepreneur
• Managing the Impact on Global Supply Chains, EDC
• How to Use the Social Media During the Covid-19 Crisis, Hypepotamus
• Managing Cash Flow in Covid-19 Crisis, Deloitte
• YC Alum Advice for Managing Remote Teams, Y Combinator
• The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work, Zapier
• Whitepapers, Finish Line Product Development
• 7 Critical Items to Consider During Today’s Quickly-Changing Environment, Venture First
• We are now in the age of triage, Wamda
• Firmaların, Ekip Liderlerinin ve Bireylerin
  Alması Gereken Aksiyonlar, Mentoro Platform
• The Founder’s Field Guide for Navigating This Crisis, First Round
• Silicon Valley Camels, will you please stand up, Kauffman Fellows
• 500+ Remote Working Tools, cocofax

Funding & Support Mechanism /add resource

• Lower cost loans
• Investments

Resources:

• Guide to Support Measures for Startups, sifted
• What Startups Need to Do with Their Finances to Survive the Coronavirus, startupdaily.
• Funding in the Time of Coronavirus, Both Sides
• 2021’e girerken…, Ali Karabey
• Gates Foundation, Wellcome, Mastercard Launch $125M Coronavirus Accelerator, Genengnews
• Girişimci arkadaşlara öneriler, Ali Karabey
• Funding for COVID-19 Projects, Sam Altman
• Ne Kadar Söz Varsa TÜBİTAK’a Dair, Şimdi Yeni Şeyler Söylemek Lazım…, Başar Kaya
• Fast Funding for COVID-19 Science, Fast Grants
• Finansal Hayatın Koronavirüsten Etkilenmemesi İçin Bugüne Kadar Atılan Bütün Adımlar, İstanbul Sanayi Odası
• The Impact of Covid-19 on the Early-Stage Investment Climate, 500 Startups