One key lesson from COVID19 is that we need a lot more decentralization. This is especially true when the center is as inept at managing the crisis as the US federal government has proven to be. For example, the power of agencies such as the CDC and the FDA has turned out to be problematic, e.g. in giving guidance on mask wearing or trying to increase the availability of testing (both central to the road back). This is not just a critique of current leadership but rather of the accretion of e...

Since I wrote my post on “The Road Back from COVID19″ we have made lots of progress on two out of the three pillars: masks and tracing. Masks went from a discussion of their merits to being mandatory to wear in public in several states, including New York. Tracing went from a hodgepodge of approaches to an API supported by both Google and Apple. On the third pillar of testing, however, we are massively behind. It is by now well understood that the virus is transmissable for several days befor...

One key lesson from COVID19 is that we need a lot more decentralization. This is especially true when the center is as inept at managing the crisis as the US federal government has proven to be. For example, the power of agencies such as the CDC and the FDA has turned out to be problematic, e.g. in giving guidance on mask wearing or trying to increase the availability of testing (both central to the road back). This is not just a critique of current leadership but rather of the accretion of e...

Since I wrote my post on “The Road Back from COVID19″ we have made lots of progress on two out of the three pillars: masks and tracing. Masks went from a discussion of their merits to being mandatory to wear in public in several states, including New York. Tracing went from a hodgepodge of approaches to an API supported by both Google and Apple. On the third pillar of testing, however, we are massively behind. It is by now well understood that the virus is transmissable for several days befor...

2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, an annual event supporting environmental protection and increasingly dedicated to fighting the climate crisis. Much had been planned, but due to COVID19 those plans had to be scrapped. Instead there will now be a global live stream at Earth Day Live 2020 and you can help promote it by adding some code to your site as I have done here on Continuations. While it may be hard to muster the energy to think about anything other than COVID19, the climate...

2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, an annual event supporting environmental protection and increasingly dedicated to fighting the climate crisis. Much had been planned, but due to COVID19 those plans had to be scrapped. Instead there will now be a global live stream at Earth Day Live 2020 and you can help promote it by adding some code to your site as I have done here on Continuations. While it may be hard to muster the energy to think about anything other than COVID19, the climate...

The lockdown measures put in place have started to flatten the curve, but they are hugely disruptive and even if we were better about freezing the economy than we are, we cannot possibly maintain them until we have a vaccine (which is many months off at a minimum). So how do we get back from here? There are three essential ingredients that need to be in place: masks, tests and tracing for all. How do we get these at the time of a dysfunctional federal government? Well here are some possibilit...

The lockdown measures put in place have started to flatten the curve, but they are hugely disruptive and even if we were better about freezing the economy than we are, we cannot possibly maintain them until we have a vaccine (which is many months off at a minimum). So how do we get back from here? There are three essential ingredients that need to be in place: masks, tests and tracing for all. How do we get these at the time of a dysfunctional federal government? Well here are some possibilit...

Something that consistently surprises me is how many people have a fundamentally static worldview. Their motto appears to be: Things are as they are and nothing will change. Never mind that history is full of massive change. And even more surprising: once a huge change has occurred the new situation becomes the new accepted normal. The COVID19 crisis is case in point. The force of change, in the form of a virus that can be spread asymptomatically, was already clearly visible in January. The m...

Something that consistently surprises me is how many people have a fundamentally static worldview. Their motto appears to be: Things are as they are and nothing will change. Never mind that history is full of massive change. And even more surprising: once a huge change has occurred the new situation becomes the new accepted normal. The COVID19 crisis is case in point. The force of change, in the form of a virus that can be spread asymptomatically, was already clearly visible in January. The m...

There has been a lot of discussion of whether or not startups qualify for forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program administered by the SBA (part of the CARES Act). I don’t want to rehash the arcana of affiliation rules here but make a totally different point instead: there is a money grab going on right now by some venture backed startups that this program absolutely should exclude. Let me start by writing about the kind of business that I believe this is spot on for: the local ...

There has been a lot of discussion of whether or not startups qualify for forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program administered by the SBA (part of the CARES Act). I don’t want to rehash the arcana of affiliation rules here but make a totally different point instead: there is a money grab going on right now by some venture backed startups that this program absolutely should exclude. Let me start by writing about the kind of business that I believe this is spot on for: the local ...

Private property has become so prevalent in the world that we rarely think about the commons. Most people consider the subway as a public good, it is part of “public transport” after all. But they are unlikely to recognize the space on the subway as a common, the way a community would previously have thought about a shared pasture. The COVID19 crisis is a stark reminder that commons are all around us: A single infected subway rider not wearing a mask could infect dozens of people. How is that...

Private property has become so prevalent in the world that we rarely think about the commons. Most people consider the subway as a public good, it is part of “public transport” after all. But they are unlikely to recognize the space on the subway as a common, the way a community would previously have thought about a shared pasture. The COVID19 crisis is a stark reminder that commons are all around us: A single infected subway rider not wearing a mask could infect dozens of people. How is that...

Now that we are finally going on lockdown here in the US in order to flatten the curve of the COVID19 crisis, we also need to take drastic measures to put the economy on suspended animation. In particular, I propose the following for the duration of the lockdown:Suspend all interest, mortgage, rent and similar payments Permit companies in non-essential industries to suspend wage payments. Pay everyone a Universal Basic Income of $600/month Federally back all health insurers and in return forc...

Now that we are finally going on lockdown here in the US in order to flatten the curve of the COVID19 crisis, we also need to take drastic measures to put the economy on suspended animation. In particular, I propose the following for the duration of the lockdown:Suspend all interest, mortgage, rent and similar payments Permit companies in non-essential industries to suspend wage payments. Pay everyone a Universal Basic Income of $600/month Federally back all health insurers and in return forc...

I have written a few general posts about the COVID19 crisis already. Today I want to address all of those running a company or making management decisions with a simple message: avoid generic business advice! By generic advice I mean anything of the form “do x,” such as “cut 20% of cost now.” Why? Because it may or may not apply to your specific situation. Across the USV portfolio, the COVID19 crisis has had wildly different impact on companies. Some companies are experiencing dramatic accele...

I have written a few general posts about the COVID19 crisis already. Today I want to address all of those running a company or making management decisions with a simple message: avoid generic business advice! By generic advice I mean anything of the form “do x,” such as “cut 20% of cost now.” Why? Because it may or may not apply to your specific situation. Across the USV portfolio, the COVID19 crisis has had wildly different impact on companies. Some companies are experiencing dramatic accele...

I wrote a post about flattening the curve last week. I believe this week we will see some kind of government enforced lockdown in the US similar to the one in place in Italy, Spain and France. It is really the only way left at this point to have even a chance of not completely overwhelming the healthcare system (and even that’s questionable). So what’s next after that? The key of course as always will be innovation. The single most urgent piece here is testing. Ideally we can get this to the ...

I wrote a post about flattening the curve last week. I believe this week we will see some kind of government enforced lockdown in the US similar to the one in place in Italy, Spain and France. It is really the only way left at this point to have even a chance of not completely overwhelming the healthcare system (and even that’s questionable). So what’s next after that? The key of course as always will be innovation. The single most urgent piece here is testing. Ideally we can get this to the ...