YC Partners Eric Migicovsky and Jared Friedman discuss strategies for navigating COVID as an early stage startup. Questions from their discussion came from the Startup School forum. For more information about Startup School, visit https://www.startupschool.org

Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) -
00:00:00 Startup in the time of COVID19
00:00:53 Advice about reacting to COVID
00:01:11 - Most companies should not make any changes
00:01:44 - Common question - How investors are reacting to COVID?
00:02:22 - Find a way to leverage the disruption rather than fight it
00:03:20 - - Example - Travel company
00:04:33 - Get good at working and selling remotely
00:05:02 - - How to build rapport over Zoom?
00:06:12 - Take care of your physical and mental health first
00:07:08 How is your business affected by COVID (Framework)?
00:07:21 - Companies building COVID-specific app
00:07:59 - Companies positive impacted by COVID
00:08:53 - Companies not impacted
00:09:22 - Companies with some negative impact
00:10:09 - Companies with massive negative impact
00:11:40 - - Example - Let's do this app
00:12:51 How has YC changed?
00:15:51 - How it's changing the companies that YC fund?
00:17:27 Audience Q&A
00:17:53 Q1 - What is your advice on keeping bricks and mortar businesses alive like gyms and restaurants?
00:19:10 Q2 - How can I move my business forward when I can't go out and talk to users in person?
00:22:17 Q3 - Churn is up because of the economic uncertainty. What can they do to creatively retain customers and maintain revenue?
00:23:09 Q4 - What sort of resources should we use to stay coordinated and working in the same direction with remote team?
00:24:36 Q5 - How do you handle situations when your remote team hits a wall or progress just becomes really tough?
00:26:34 Q6 - How does COVID impact investing decisions on companies that aren't quite ready, but are in the markets that are really taking off with COVID?
00:27:54 Q7 - How does YC adapt in finding and funding different companies during COVID?
00:29:21 Q8 - My startup can help with social distancing, should we pivot to focus on COVID19?