Our response to the coronavirus
TL;DR We are implementing mandatory remote working for the Playfair team with immediate effect and strongly encourage our portfolio companies to do the same — we believe there are significant benefits of taking decisive action.
The Playfair team
As of today (13/03/2020), the Playfair team is working remotely for the foreseeable future. We expect this to last for months, not weeks (best estimates at present suggest 3–4 months until the peak of the coronavirus has passed). Despite the challenges of not being able to interact face-to-face with each other or with founders, it is very much business as usual.
For our founders
The team is working normal office hours — reach us through email, WhatsApp or just call. We’ll be in the best position to help if you keep us up to date.
I have already had many calls to discuss what steps our companies should be taking to prepare for the coming months. For some, implementing remote working is a challenge, whilst for others they are more focused on market conditions and how they keep their sales teams productive.
Whilst general guidance is limited in how helpful it can be, this blog post from the team at Sequoia is a good high-level overview of the key issues to consider.
For founders looking to raise money, we will be moving to a fully remote process using video calls. We are well progressed on several deals and see no reason we won’t be able to get deals closed in the next few months.
Founders should orientate themselves to this new normal of remote working and optimise their pitch to work effectively over video and through sharing materials (one side effect of VCs not commuting is we’ll have more time to read).
Cabin fever/mental wellbeing
We love our job and being stuck at home is going to be frustrating. We’ll be experimenting with ways to keep us all fresh, engaged and sharing ideas.
To start with, we’ve put in place two really simple ideas:
- Every morning at 9am we have a team video call — this will allow us to check in, make sure everybody is feeling good or address any challenges, and set up the day. It will also encourage us to get showered, dressed and give some routine which is easy to lose when you are long term WFH
- Every member of the team is encouraged to video call any other member of the team if they don’t have a meeting in their calendar — we want to make informal, quick video interactions part of our day (this part will no doubt be harder, but we’re going to try our best to make it work)
One other idea, which is particularly relevant for operational teams, is to change targets from monthly or quarterly and make them weekly. Extended periods WFH can warp your sense of time so shortening the feedback loop and ending the week with a review of targets achieved/missed should help keep people motivated and engaged. Celebration of targets that would take place in the office should also continue remotely in whatever fashion can be achieved.
Why self-isolate now?
The case for early intervention is clear. The UK is on the same trajectory as other countries in Europe. The UK government appears to be relying too heavy on behavioural science (we can’t lock down the country yet as people will get ‘fatigued’ and it will become ineffective) and in the belief that they can keep the economy moving by delaying the most stringent measures.
Our view is simple — if we are wrong, and are starting too early, there is no downside. If we are right, then we have a better chance of reducing the peak of the outbreak by taking decisive measures as soon as possible.
Understandably, people have read a lot about coronavirus in recent days and weeks. We consider this graph and blog post extremely helpful to understand the inevitable path of coronavirus in the UK without rapid intervention.
We have no doubt the coming months are going to be challenging, but have already been impressed by how responsive and adaptable our founders are. As VCs we always talk about the positive impacts of technology on society — over the next months we have an opportunity to really demonstrate this, supporting our founders and funding new ones all whilst in isolation.
