R.I.P. Good Times by Sequoia Capital

Our take

• Manage what you can control
  • spending
  • growth assumptions
  • earnings assumptions
• focus on quality
• lower risk
• reduce debt

Amazon.com vs Buy.com and salesforce.com vs siebel financials

• Strong business model
• focus on core value proposition
• profitable growth
• trim fat during lean times
• tailor sales message to environment
• take advantage of competitors’ weakness
• understand your true customers

Recovery will be long

Increase challenges

• M&As will decrease
• Prices will decrease
• Acquiring entities will favor profitable companies
• IPOs will continue to decrease and will take longer

Survival

• Must-have product
• Established revenue model
• Understanding of market uptake
• Customers’ abilities to pay
• Assessment vs. competitors
• Cash is king
• Need for profitability

OPs review

• Engineering: Decrease headcount for next version
• Product: What features are absolutely essential
• Marketing: Measuring and cutting what’s not working
• Sales & Biz dev: Getting return on expense Increase
• Pipeline: Real probabilities of closing deals
• Cash burn: Where can payments be deferred?
• G&A: What departments are essentials