While I recommend that corporations continue to invest during recessionary periods, it is critical that they conduct thorough due diligence. ![]() They note that startups that embrace downturns may have less competition and have the opportunity to refine their product or service offering to meet customer demand. Part of their argument is that recessions are typically brief and have historically been followed by long periods of expansion. In a 2022 Harvard Business Review article, professors Vijay Govindarajan and Anup Srivastava urge companies to continue investing in growth during recessionary periods. At our firm, where we invest on behalf of corporate partners, we are investing at the same pace as before the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent recession. They want to grow revenue and normally look at a 10-year return on their investments. Given that, there is still opportunity for startups to develop partnerships with global corporations and seek investment.įrom what I’ve seen, corporate investors have not backed down due to the slowing economy. Why is this a good time for corporate venture capital? Typically, corporate investments are long-term and are made based on strategic alignment and financial return. It’s also important that founders are transparent with their staff, outlining the startup’s challenges and engaging the team to develop innovative solutions. They should be ready to pivot if feedback indicates that a new direction would attract more customers or grow revenue. As Jim Stovall said, “Don’t wait for all the lights to be green before you leave the house.Instead of being rigid in their approach to the market, startups should listen to customer feedback and employee feedback. If you tend to procrastinate, make a conscious effort to apply the above questions to your decisions. Procrastination may relieve short-term pressure. By setting a firm deadline, you move the decision-making process toward a conclusion. Without a set deadline, that stage can’t be reached. Her data revealed that precisely midway between the start of a project and the deadline is when people get seriously down to work. When is the best time to make the right decision?Ĭonnie Gersick of the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA did a study on the impact of deadlines on decision-making. ![]() However, if the passage of time will eliminate a valuable option, it might be time to move. ![]() With good timing, a delay can actually increase options, either by providing more information, or allowing new opportunities. Preparation is getting to at least 60.ĭo I increase or decrease my options by waiting? General Colin Powell once said that if zero represents no data and 100 represents all of the data needed to make a decision, he usually waits until he’s at about 60, then he uses gut instincts, intuition, and personal experience to make the choice. Just remember that preparation is not necessarily knowing all the answers or achieving consensus. Can you handle the worst-case scenario? Is the opportunity worth the price? If yes, then it may be time to move. Here are some tests you can apply to an opportunity to help you get over the hurdle of procrastination.Īlbert Einstein said, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Murphy’s Law says that things will go wrong. The situation changes and the opportunity disappears. When items get crossed off your to-do list not because they’ve been completed, but because they’re too out of date to be done.Īmerican entrepreneur Victor Kiam said, “Procrastination is opportunity’s natural assassin.” And it’s true that putting off a decision long enough can often make the decision irrelevant. When items on your to-do list continually roll over to the next day, week, or month. When you frequently come across old documents and to-do lists that you haven’t missed in weeks or months. When you often ask, “When is the latest that I can do this?” instead of “When is the soonest that I can tackle it?” When missing deadlines becomes a regular occurrence. How can you tell if a tendency to wait is procrastination? We might need more information, or perhaps the people who will be affected need to be prepared.īut when you wait, are you always practicing good timing? Or do you put things off unnecessarily? In those cases, maybe you’re procrastinating. In my book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, I teach the Law of Timing, which says, “ When to lead is as important as what to do and where to go.” So I believe that timing plays a critical role in many of the decisions we make. Sometimes that’s a wise move, because the timing isn’t right.
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