Our 5th episode of
Ask A VC Anything
featured Jay Eum, one of the best connectors from Silicon Valley to Seoul and the world. Jay shared his view of leading technologies of the future and offered loads of advice for startups in the trenches trying to dig out from the impact of the coronavirus.
Here are several takeaways from our online chat with Jay, April 29.
1
. Startups need to act quickly to counteract the current downturn. Make the hard decisions early -- cut expenses, do layoffs. Those who make the decisions early will have a much better chance to make it through.
2
. The bar will be higher to raise venture capital. Startups need to have their house in order first with a track record of revenues before seeking to raise financing. It will be a longer runway to get the funding.
3
. Those who get ready now will be in a good position to take advantage of an upturn when that happens.
4
. It matters less about the valuation right now in raising finance and more about raising cash to survive to get to the next milestones.
5
. This crisis period for startups will last at least six months.
Plus how South Korea stacks up in the startup world technologically, and why
the country dealt with Covid-19
effectively and fast.
