When Cash is King, Knowledge is Queen

In times of crises, we often refer to the phrase “Cash is King”. This saying gained popularity after Pehr G. Gyllenhammar, CEO of Volvo, used it after the global stock market suddenly crashed in 1987. To this, I would suggest one minor addition:

Many often describe an entrepreneur’s journey with terminology borrowed from the battlefield. As a former commander in the Israeli Air Force Intelligence Corps, I learned how crucial obtaining the correct, most-accurate information, before others obtain it may be to one’s strategic positioning. This idea has also been expressed in the ancient writings (with regards to the importance of intelligence in a wider sense):

“The reason the enlightened prince and the wise general conquer the enemy whenever they move and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men — is foreknowledge.”

In the past few months, the world has been dealing with COVID-19, and the economic ramifications of our response. At such challenging times as these, startup founders must realize that a different approach is required for their business: it is a time for a “war time” leadership. In this article, I will explainthe importance of gathering fast and accurate insights at times of crises, and propose a few ideas on how to transform your organization into a part-time intelligence superpower, without significantly increasing your expenses. As a startup CEO, you must know how to function as a decision-making machine, and for healthy decision-making — you must be reliant on reliable data. As Jim Barksdale, former CEO of Netscape, wittily put it:

“If we have data, let’s look at the data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.”

In the early days of your startup’s journey you learn a lot about the market’s dynamics. You gather market insights that later enables you to sharpen your company’s offering and build a strategy that best fits these market’s conditions and positions you for future opportunities. Slowly, you become knowledgeable. You learn to improve based on the feedback that arrives from the market. Every now and then you get your hands on an incredible textbook or meet an industry veteran with tips that connect your thoughts and help form the right game-plan.

The air starts to clear, and you finally have a roadmap for your company. Then, with no prior warning — an elegant black swan event appears and turns the whole world upside-down. All of those hard- earned lessons, the market insights that you’ve thoughtfully gathered and the plan you thought to masterfully execute — may no longer be relevant. In turbulent times such as these, you are expected to make faster decisions.Lots of them.

Good news! You already have reconnaissance agents on your payroll. Remember the early days of your company, and how every few days you found a key insight that really helped you add another piece to the puzzle? You should spread this mentality of survival-learning to your entire team. But how?

Past crises have taught us that the companies that will emerge stronger from the downturn have the greatest chance of becoming tomorrow’s market leaders. Enriching your organization with quality data, which will help your decision-making processes, will give you a great advantage in the race.