One of the hardest, most painful parts of managing a crisis, says Threshold Ventures partner Heidi Roizen, is layoffs. But immediately and drastically cutting costs and positions, she adds, is ultimately better than repeatedly demoralizing and destabilizing your staff with an endless series of smaller layoffs. By cutting deep early on, you allow remaining employees to cohere and rebuild with much higher confidence. Furthermore, she adds, it’s crucial to make any layoffs with maximum empathy. That’s even more true in the COVID-19 crisis, she says, since many people are struggling with health issues as well as economic ones.
Related

Luke Sykora,
Stanford University
Starting Up in a Downturn
An Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders mini-guide for aspiring founders facing a troubled economy.
Article
5 minutes

Josh Makower, MD,
Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign
The Biodesign Innovation Process [Entire Talk]
Innovation isn’t random – it’s a process that can be learned, improved, and effectively deployed to solve specific problems.
Video
52 minutes
Josh Makower, MD,
Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign
The Biodesign Innovation Process [Entire Talk]
Innovation isn’t random – it’s a process that can be learned, improved, and effectively deployed to solve specific problems.

John Felts,
Cruz Foam
Engineering Green Materials [Entire Talk]
To scale a technology, engineers need to think beyond the technology itself.
Video
53 minutes
John Felts,
Cruz Foam
Engineering Green Materials [Entire Talk]
To scale a technology, engineers need to think beyond the technology itself.