What I Learned from the first Crisis Response Webinar with Greg Coticchia

What is Crisis Response?

Crisis Response is a recurring webinar that features experienced business operators who survived crises such as the Dot-com bubble and the Great Recession. Our guests will share stories, strategies, and words of advice for what is happening right now. 

This series is a response to COVID-19 and the pending recession organized by Abstract Collective and Newberry Consulting.

About Greg

Greg Coticchia, MBA, PC, is an award-winning technology executive with over thirty years’ experience in high tech products and services. He currently serves Carnegie Mellon University as its founding Executive Director for its Master’s Program in Product Management (MSPM). He previously served the University of Pittsburgh as both its founding Director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Student Startup Accelerator, ‘The Blast Furnace’, and as its first Executive in Residence (EIR) for software and information technology. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh in Industrial Engineering, where he also received his MBA, he currently teaches several courses including B2B marketing at the University of Pittsburgh Katz School Of Business. He holds certificates in Entrepreneurial Management from Carnegie Mellon University and Professional Coaching from Duquesne University.

I got to meet Greg when I lived in Pittsburgh and went through the Blast Furnace startup accelerator at the Pitt Innovation Institute. Greg has been an invaluable mentor of mine since then, especially when I launched a university startup accelerator back in 2017 in Birmingham, AL.

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Shift Mindset from Income Statement to Balance Sheet

Stop looking at your top-line revenue and customer acquisition and look at your balance sheet, your cash position, and where your assets are. A shift from growth to survival during harsh times.

Ask yourself: How can I gain cash and preserve cash?

Lean on your Existing Customer Relationships

Greg’s team went to their top ten customers on annual subscriptions and asked if they would prepay for three years. All of those customers said yes. Through this, they gained over $1M in working capital. Keep in mind that cash is tight, but customers may be bargain hunting and flexible during this time.

***This allowed Greg’s team to not have to lay anyone off.

Greg’s Advice for Entrepreneurs Now

1 - Cash is King

Understand your business’s health and access what the runway forward looks like. Know where you are so you can make good decisions for yourself, your business, and your employees.

2 - Plan Ahead

After you do a business inventory assessment, plan ahead. Focus your work forward on your customers and deepening those relationships.

Plans Are Worthless, But Planning Is Everything - Dwight D. Eisenhower

3 - Take Care of Yourself

This is a stressful and difficult moment. Who doesn’t have Zoom fatigue? Take care of your mental state and health so you can best serve your company, your team, and yourself.

4 - This Too Shall Pass

COVID-19 will not be forever. Take it a day at a time. Things will get better.

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Where can I find the recording of the Webinar?

You can find the full webinar recorded and shared on YouTube here. If you are a software entrepreneur, you will want to watch this and take notes.

When is the next Crisis Response Webinar?

The next webinar will be Wednesday, May 6th at noon EST. Space is limited to 50 people and tickets are going fast. Learn more about the details and register here.