Today I discussed product–market fit strategies with a rising entrepreneur and another advisor. The entrepreneur is addressing in a unique way a problem she’s passionate about. The pandemic has disrupted her vision for solving it, though. Today we explored the feasibility of digitizing her solution. She referred to this idea as a “digital first, physical second” approach.

After the meeting, that characterization stuck with me. I thought about it. Before 2020, life was “physical first.” Most people shopped in brick-and-mortar places like malls and grocery stores. Online shopping was growing rapidly, but it was still secondary. People regularly met up with friends and family to socialize. Phone calls and other digital communication methods were common, but only when seeing someone wasn’t feasible. Work meetings often took place face-to-face. Some people even flew regularly to conduct meetings (salespeople and consultants, for example). Tools like Zoom and Google Hangouts existed and were used, but only when travel wouldn’t work. Students went to schools and universities for their education, even though e-learning tools have been around for a decade or so.

The world has been flipped. We’ve moved to a “digital first” society.

Like everyone else, I’m living this every day, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise. But hearing it expressed so simply and clearly opened my eyes. I now recognize how big a change we’ve made in a short time. This change has had an enormous impact and will reverberate through our society for the foreseeable future.

As entrepreneurs look to solve old problems in new ways, they should consider embracing a digital-first approach.

‍

Yesterday I had a great conversation with a fellow entrepreneur. One thing we talked about was sick leave and employee wellness. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act mandates employer-provided benefits through the end of 2020 for COVID-19–related sick and childcare leave, but there is a strong possibility that a more comprehensive approach will be needed going forward.

Employees in jobs that can’t be performed remotely are facing a challenge. Sick leave historically meant taking a few days off. Common colds, sore throats, and coughs were common in most workplaces. If someone did take time off for a serious illness, it was usually for just a few days. Now, these and other symptoms could be leading indicators of COVID-19.

Companies are complying with the Act and have temporarily modified leave policies. People can receive paid time off to quarantine, provide childcare, and recover from COVID-19 symptoms, among other things. Like the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Act doesn’t apply to businesses with fewer than fifty employees in certain circumstances.

I’m wondering if this is the time to rethink how we as a society approach work. Is forty hours a week ideal for full-time workers? Does the standard 9:00 to 5:00 workday make sense? Do we need to rethink sick leave from a public health perspective? Can we do more to support parents who need childcare? You get the idea.

I don’t have the answers and I’m not well versed in the details of employment law. But the pandemic is playing havoc with the world of work and it seems like a good time to discuss these broad issues. Maybe it’s worth rethinking the status quo.

A few years ago, I sold an extra vehicle. I’ve been a passionate car enthusiast since middle school, so it wasn’t an easy decision. Here’s my logic:

• I could drive only one car at a time. Owning more than one car was fun but felt wasteful.
• I wanted to simplify life by getting rid of unnecessary things that require time and energy to maintain. I decided I’d rather put that time and energy toward people and experiences that enrich life.
• I began walking to work, so I rarely drove even one car, much less two. If I drove at all, it was usually on weekends. And most weekends I took Uber for social outings to avoid having to park.
• I felt we were at the tail end of an economic cycle. I wanted to prepare for a downturn by reducing my expenses.

This was before the pandemic. Much of this logic is still valid, but some—using Uber, for instance—is up for debate.

Today I read an interesting KMPG report, “Automotive’s New Reality: Fewer Trips, Fewer Miles, Fewer Cars?” It discusses vehicle miles traveled (VMT) going forward. Here are a few highlights:

• A work-from-home norm could reduce commuting and VMT.
• Online shopping and delivery services (for groceries, for example) could reduce shopping trips and VMT.
• Reduced use of public transportation could increase consumer VMT.
• Will mobility services such as Uber and Lyft return to growth? Consumer comfort with mobility-as-a-service could affect consumer VMT.
• Reduced consumer VMT could increase commercial VMT and cause certain businesses (think UPS, FedEx, Amazon) to need more delivery vehicles.

I haven’t driven much in the last five months and I don’t see that changing for the rest of the year. I believe the pandemic is fundamentally changing human behavior. The old norms will cease to exist, and new norms are forming. I envision reduced consumer activity and more time at home. Socializing will be with more intimate groups of family and friends in homes.

Cars aren’t going away anytime soon, but I do think their role in people’s lives will diminish. Industries that support this new reality will grow: e-commerce, logistics, transportation and delivery, etc. Commercial VMT and employment opportunities in these industries will grow too.

What are your predictions about cars and VMT?

Today I caught up with a family member. One of the things we talked about was my habit of posting daily. Bob asked how long I’d been writing, how long I planned to write, and why I had decided to write every day. I told him that I’ve been writing for four months and that I plan to do it for at least a year (hopefully much longer) and explained my reasons. I get asked these questions a lot. Most people say, “That’s nice to know,” and the conversation moves on. Today was different.

Bob shared how my posts have affected him. I really enjoyed the feedback after writing every day for months with little idea of whether I’m doing anything other than whistling in the wind. Bob said he reads my posts every day on LinkedIn’s app. LinkedIn doesn’t provide stats on article impressions or views, so this was news to me. And he said that he has shared some of my posts. With no stats, I had no idea if I’d gotten any shares. Then he told me how my weekly work-from-home posts have helped him manage better. Those are the posts in which I track how many weeks I’ve worked from home (sadly, it’s been eighteen), describe my main observations during the week, and summarize my takeaways. I assumed this post didn’t resonate with others. It was designed to force me to reflect every week and be aware of the pandemic’s impact on my mental state and to be my “easy” post for the week. I thought it would bore people.

I found out that Bob has enjoyed my reflections so much that he’s borrowed the idea. He now reflects about things himself, both alone and with his team. They have a standing virtual conversation that’s become the highlight of their week. They share personal and professional thoughts and open up about their mental state. It’s become a substitute for lost water-cooler talk and brought the team closer.

My conversation with Bob was eye-opening, to say the least. Never in a million years would I have guessed that my posts had helped a team connect. Or that anyone reads them every day. When I began writing, it was to give back and help others by sharing my experiences and thoughts. I reflected on what I’d learned after 60 days. Today, I learned more. Bob helped me understand the reach of my writing and the impact it can have. I’m glad my posts add value to others’ lives, grateful for the experiences and opportunities that I’ve been blessed with, and encouraged to continue writing.

Next time you’re considering doing something positive for others but aren’t sure if it will be helpful . . . do it anyway. You could end up having a much bigger impact than you ever could have imagined!

Today marked the end of my eighteenth week of working from home. Here are my takeaways from week eighteen:

• Mental wellness – I’ve noticed that more people are discussing the pandemic’s impact on their mental state. Talking about this openly is a good thing. It’s encouraging to people who are struggling to know they’re not alone. I myself have had days when I struggled. I hope that we continue to discuss this topic at work and at home.
• Little wins – I really wanted a small win to celebrate, and I found one. A few weeks ago, I downloaded a new software tool. It’s extremely complicated and intimidating, so I never started using it. My goal was to use it daily. I accomplished that this week, which was encouraging. I plan to learn more about the tool so that I can take full advantage of everything it offers. This little win was a good way to end the week on a high note.
• Zoom – I like Zoom, but I find myself needing to schedule a break from it. Using it a lot in a day strains my eyes and leaves me mentally drained.  

Week eighteen was positive and pretty normal. No major takeaways this week. In two weeks, I’ll reach the five-month mark.

I’ll continue to learn from this unique situation, adjust as necessary, and share my experience.

Over the last few months I’ve heard a number of entrepreneurs express concern for the mental wellness of their team. They’re unsure how working from home is affecting them. Are they sad . . . anxious . . . happy . . . neutral? A few of them began conducting one-on-one video meetings with every team member (not just their direct reports). This is thoughtful, but it won’t scale. If more than 50 or 60 people are on the team, there’s not enough time in the day to meet with them individually.

Understanding employee morale has always been a priority for leaders. In the past they could walk the halls and get a pretty good idea. No more. Gauging the morale of employees who are working from home is a pressing problem.

Today I met with an entrepreneur who’s looking to solve it with software. A few years ago, he realized employers had a retention issue. He predicted that an early understanding of how employees are feeling about things could prevent team turnover. If a manager is aware of an issue early on, it can be addressed before it causes the employee to resign. This entrepreneur has raised some funding from investors and I’ll be excited to see the next version of his product.

The pandemic is challenging everyone, but it’s also creating opportunities for creative entrepreneurs. People still have the same needs, and they’re actively seeking new ways to get them met.

Opportunities like this don’t happen often. If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, seize the day!

Yesterday I listened to a podcast on which Bill Gurley was interviewed. Bill is a partner at Benchmark, a highly regarded West Coast venture capital firm that made early investments in companies like eBay, Uber, Instagram, Zillow, and Snapchat. It’s in the top tier of U.S. venture firms because of its outsize returns to investors.

Bill has been a technology investor for many years. He experienced the dot-com bust and the financial crisis. On the podcast, he shared what he learned from previous downturns: “the best way to protect against the downside is to enjoy every last bit of the upside.” I was surprised. To summarize his explanation, he said that the biggest returns usually come from investments made at the very end of a cycle. If you pull back too early because you’re anticipating a downturn, you’ll miss the best investment opportunities. He didn’t say this, but I assume he thinks that timing a downturn is nearly impossible so people should stay the course until the downturn happens.

Bill is embracing the current reality. He’s accepting his situation and investing accordingly until trends turn and there’s a new reality.

I’ve thought about this and debated with others it over the last day, and I think Bill makes a good argument. Accepting (rather than fighting) a trend positions you to take advantage of whatever opportunities it presents. So what if you don’t like the trend? The trend doesn’t care. If you fight it because you think it’s wrong, you don’t understand it, or you think it will (should) change, you’ll miss out.

This isn’t applicable to everyone or to all situations, but it’s an interesting perspective and food for thought from a wise and experienced investor.

Last year I observed something about small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that got me thinking. Consumers communicate with each other differently than they do with SMBs. They text, FaceTime, and direct message via Instagram, Twitter, and many others all day long. Yet they call, email, or physically visit SMBs. Thinking this was a problem, I did some research. What I learned was that it wasn’t a problem. Customers weren’t asking for different communication methods and SMBs were growing, so they didn’t need to change. In hindsight, it might have been a timing thing. I might have been too early.

The world is different now. Consumers are hesitant to visit physical locations. They’re stuck at home trying to work, watch their kids, and do a host of other things. They’re adapting to a different way of living and searching for new ways to safely satisfy their needs and desires. This changing landscape has caused many SMBs to lose customers. They’re trying to offer the same products and services they always have in ways consumers are comfortable with, but they’re struggling to connect with consumers in this new world. SMBs are facing serious challenges and a massive shift in consumer behavior.

I see an opportunity in the midst of this turmoil. What about a platform through which an SMB and its customers could communicate in ways that resonate more with consumers now? Convenient, effective communication would attract customers. What if you could text the grocery store a picture of the orange juice you want to add to your delivery order? What if you could receive a 10-second video from the UPS driver showing where he put your package? What if you could talk to Alexa or Siri to place a dinner order for delivery?

I’m not sure how difficult it would be to build this platform or how it would work. But I think there’s an opportunity to improve how SMBs communicate with customers. Wouldn’t it be nice to rebuild the connection that’s been taken away?

I’ve been working with an entrepreneur for two months. She’s a developer with an app idea who could never find time to create an MVP to test her idea. We settled on a weekly cadence: she would email a group of advisors about her progress and ask for assistance if she needed it. The plan was simple but gave her the encouragement and accountability she needed to execute on her idea.

All was well for the first six weeks. In week seven, the pandemic affected her personally. She wasn’t able to focus and stopped sending the updates. She had stopped working on her app altogether. This was a huge red flag to me.

After hearing about everything she was juggling and her desire to make the app a reality, I made a recommendation: focus on one thing you can accomplish in a day or two. It doesn’t matter how small it is—it can be anything that moves you closer to your goal. Repeat every few days. The idea was that she could continue making progress while dealing with other responsibilities, and she’d have wins she could celebrate.

Sometimes even the best plans go awry. Life happens. It’s just the way the world works. At CCAW, there were many times when I felt like everything was going wrong at once. It was paralyzing and discouraging. Over time, I learned a few things:

• Focus on what you can control. Don’t dwell on things outside your control.
• Figure out how to keep making some kind of progress in small chunks. Celebrating small wins can change your perspective and give you a much-needed spark.
• Talk to credible people about what you’re experiencing. Keeping your feelings bottled up isn’t healthy. You’ll find that other people have been through similar things and can convince you there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
• No success story is up and to the right all the time. There’s always a period of struggle. This too shall pass.

The next time life prevents you from accomplishing your goals, find one small thing you can do quickly. And do it again in a day or two. Small wins will help you weather the storm!

Lately I’ve been looking for ways to have more efficient meetings. Especially with new entrepreneurs. I’m spending half our time trying to understand what problem they’re solving and how their product or service solves it.

At CCAW, I held weekly one-on-one meetings with direct reports. My days were full, so I kept them to a strict 30 minutes. I spent most of that time peeling back layers and asking questions that would get the other person to reflect on what they wanted to talk about. That meant that the meeting was almost over before I understood what we should be talking about. In the end, the meetings were of little value.

Over time, I started using software to help. The day before each meeting, the software prompted my direct reports to answer these questions:

1. What have you accomplished since the last time we met?
2. What roadblocks have you encountered since we last met?
3. What do you plan to accomplish before our next meeting?
4. What are you most worried about today?

If they didn’t answer them, we wouldn’t meet.

This was powerful. Their preparation made our meetings more effective. They could see their previous responses, including what they’d committed to being responsible for. Formulating their answers required reflection and planning and instilled accountability. All of this made our meetings richer.

My own preparation was equally as helpful. I reviewed the answers beforehand. I compared actual accomplishments to planned accomplishments and made a point of discussing gaps. I set expectations and helped my people prioritize. I learned about challenges early and was usually able to address them before they turned into bigger issues. I went into each meeting ready to discuss the things that mattered most to that person and to CCAW’s objectives. The tone of my meetings changed, and people looked forward to them.

Consider preparing for your meetings more effectively and asking or requiring (depending on the context) the other person to do so too. Your meetings will be more productive and helpful.