Navigating Disruption: Week 1
A Live Documentary of a Disruptor’s disruption
We are “disruptors.” We are a healthcare technology start-up focused on eliminating waste in the healthcare system by disrupting traditional operating practices. But now COVID-19 has disrupted the disrupts. Throughout the pandemic, we will document the thoughts we have, the plans we make, the risks we take, and the choices we face. Here is our story, one week at a time.
Week 0 — Flying High and Gaining Altitude
Week 1 — The Crashing Lows
What a difference a day makes.
Friday, February 29, 2020: CNN reports the first death from the Coronavirus in the U.S.
Edgility readies for HIMSS; For us, it’s business as usual. Threat level — 0.
Monday, March 2, 2020: I watch stock markets stumble, falter, then plummet on newsof COVID-19’s spread. How much of a problem was this thing going to be, and for how long?
Tuesday, March 3, 2020: U.S. officials ramp up testing
Wednesday, March 4, 2020: HIMSS is canceled.
The magnitude of the global outbreak is sinking in. What will happen to our venture capital meetings? Our scheduled client meetings? How will this impact Edgility? Most importantly, how will this affect my clients who are on the frontlines of caring for patients?
Given our team’s healthcare background, we foresee, the impending disruption to healthcare and businesses everywhere. And we realized, with unusual clarity, how Edgility would be no exception. We had to ask ourselves, even if our clients want to proceed, is this the right time? We are worried about the health-systems and specifically our healthcare partners ability to respond to COVID-19. As we processed all this, the grim news continued to flow.
- Our Venture Capitalist and Investor began to cancel meetings — with a promise to reschedule.
- We quickly replaced our many scheduled HIMSS face-to-face meetings with virtual alternatives.
- Meanwhile, travel restrictions go into effect — varying from client-to-client.
- Hospitals and health systems across the country are scrambling to prepare for the expected onslaught of patients. But they too are expressing uncertainly about what’s next.
While health systems were bracing for the worst, back at the office I was about to have one of my worse days. Just recently I brought on staff, based on new contracts. Now I had to call each to tell them we are on pause. And I can’t tell them for how long. Of all the unsettling, nerve-wracking tasks that anyone, especially a small, intimate start-up, must perform, removing gainful work from a happy and expectant staff is the worst. These are real people who had quit good jobs to come work specifically and especially with us. Not for money nor security, but because they believed in the mission and vision. I feel I let them down. That it was my fault. Not a good day.
As much as I would wish for this to be the lowest low, I had a bad feeling that there is more to come.
The disruptor is now the ‘disrupted.’
Throughout this pandemic, we are chronicling what happens inside a start-up. What unforeseen events take place, how did we respond, and why? What is our strategy over the next several months to ensure our viability? Finally, how will this impact us personally? And What about the lives of our families, our staff, and our associates?
