Coronavirus: Noise and signal

<Every company is dealing with fear and uncertainties around Coronavirus crisis. Here's my all-company email to ThoughtSpot team>

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In 2003 when I first heard the name Coronavirus, I'll admit that the very first image my mind conjured up was that of a Corona beer bottle. After that I became curious as to why something this nasty is called a Corona (from Latin word for a beautiful Halo). The search landed me on an image like the one below showing how this peculiar virus's virion looks under an electron microscope -- pretty much like the Corona of the Sun--

Even though it's only around 23 nanometers in size (~0.0000009 inches) this thing has the world under its grip today. As the citizens of this globe, building a company with a mission to make the world more fact driven, I think it's important for us to get on the same page on a few things:

Let's take it seriously

Any time a new form of a virus jumps from the animal species and acquires reproductive and transmission capabilities between humans, it's a problem for our species. 

1. It may sound simple, but the best thing we can do to not get or spread the virus is be extra vigilant on washing/cleaning our hands and keep them away from face. 

2. Stop shaking hands and touching unnecessary surfaces

3. This is also the season of common cold, and flu. (Mostly caused by other known Coronavirus) When you feel you are under the weather, stay away from work and if you feel up to it, work from home. (As I did this week, while recovering from a cold and sore throat) Just let your team know, update the slack, drink a lot of fluid and get well.  

Business Travel

We can't do our business without traveling. Whether it's to collaborate with other engineers, partners or to sell to customers, we will have to travel. 

1. As of this morning, CDC has extended travel warnings to 5 countries. China, Iran, Japan, South Korea, and Italy. If you have business travel coming in the next 3 months where you need to be in one of these countries, you are free to cancel your trip. Let your leaders know and we will find other plans around it. We will continue to monitor this site as CDC adds or removes countries from this list. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/index.html

2. Whether you travel for business or pleasure, have no shame in carrying alcohol wipes with you and wipe clean the seats, tray tables, and surrounding areas in trains, cars or airplanes. Have no shame in wearing CDC approved N-95 masks all through your travels (Of course immigration officials may want you to take them off ;>{}) If you have difficulty finding or procuring masks for business trips, please let XXXX know, and we will find ways to get them to you

3. We have many ThoughtLeaders seminars and other field events coming up all over the world. We have no plans to cancel any of them and if you are required to attend and feel that you would rather not, please let your leaders know and we will make alternate arrangements. 

This too shall pass

Throughout the history of humans on this blue planet we call home, we've been constantly at war with these little microorganisms for survival. Between Bubonic plague, Measles, Smallpox, Cholera, we've lost hundreds of millions of lives. But, we also have proven incredibly resilient in fighting back and eradicate most, if not all, of those diseases. But this is going to be a battle with no end as they will adapt, we will have to learn, innovate and evolve. After all, it's their home planet too. 

Warming weather may help, but as the northern hemisphere warms, the southern hemisphere will cool, giving another part of the world for the virus to live. As we've seen with SARS, there's a chance that the virus may reappear after a hibernation. But, unlike the early 1900s, we now have more science, research, history, and knowledge by our side. Between the medical and information technology innovations, we know that the days of this virus are also numbered. It's just a matter of when, not if, we will find cures and vaccines. 

Panic is good business

It's really important to remember that every crisis also brings out opportunistic people with hidden agendas. There will be people who want to make money in a crashing stock market, people who want to make political hay in an election season, people who already have inherent racist or ethnic biases using this opportunity to stoke fear against people of Asian ethnicities, and there will be people who want to sell more things because people buy up shelves full of stuff in panic. Bad news travels fast, and fear is a debilitating force multiplier. As responsible citizens of the world, it's not just enough to not partake in increasing noise, but we ought to actively resist it from spreading.  

Logout of social media as much as you can. Most of what you see there are citizen journalists and wannabe virologists making predictions out of opinions for clicks. If you can't logout, actively unfollow or block people who are adding to the noise. Follow scientific publications, or known government or research university accounts.

Stocks have been ready for a correction for a long while, even with a near 10% drop, we are at historic highs on employment, GDP, and inflation. The fundamentals of the economy are strong, but there will be supply chain impacts throughout the world because China is a hub for many industries. But, once this crisis has passed, that will also open up opportunities for innovation and investments. 

Making the world more fact driven

The data is hard to come by, but based on a paper that was published, here's a summary of the death rates. For whatever reasons, children seem to be immune to the effects of the virus and mortality rates are high for the elderly (As you would expect from a pulmonary disease and lung capacity in advanced age). 

Source

In the same boat

China is doing everything they can do to contain the virus. I have not seen many articles remembering the sacrifices the people of China and the city of Wuhan made for the rest of us in the world. They have been in lockdown for many weeks now and they are silently bearing it. Let's take a moment to remember the people who are affected by this tragedy, and thank the health professionals who are selflessly fighting against this virus on behalf of our species. 

I used the word "species" a lot in this email intentionally. We sometimes need reminders like this to wake up to the fact that we are all on the same boat, facing the same fate and there's more that's common between us than what's superficially separating us. I hope events like this will make us take a pause from fighting each other because of our color of the skin, or the god we believe in. Virus doesn't care, all it needs is yet another body to infect and destroy. 

World needs access to facts now more than ever before. Our purpose as a company has never been more clear. What you see going on in the world today is exactly what happens when noise overtakes signal. Opinions are flying around and data is hard to find. We need to recommit to our mission and work hard so that when next time something like this happens we have an open version of ThoughtSpot running against CDC, and NHS data. We have to enable everyone to search and find patterns, and facts for themselves in that data. By building social media that can augment noise, while there's no ThoughtSpot like product in the mainstream to equally argue facts, we've created a dangerous imbalance. It's important to bring that back into equilibrium. 

I will leave you with this quote. 

"Life shrinks or expands with one's courage" -- Let's expand our lives, let's live courageously during this tumultuous time in the world. 

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