Sanjay Nath, Managing Partner at Blume Ventures, discusses talent market shifts during the early COVID-19 downturn in April 2020.
Opinion
Nath: The era of the generalist venture capital investor is over
“You know, that the era of the generalist VC is over.”
Insight
Cost and team morale are the only variables founders control in downturns
“It is the only internal variable, which we believe in also. It's the only internal variable that you can control is your cost, your cash, right? You can't control how, how much your gamer is going to spend, you know, for your game, Or the enterprise sales, the…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Autonomous systems will drive enterprise growth as mandatory in-office work declines
“I think people are not necessarily going to feel that you have to be at work Monday to Friday or Monday to Saturday, but the future of work is here. So, so autonomous systems will drive, you know, a lot of the growth and I think, you know, enterprises start pi…”
Insight
Tailwind-driven startups must capture share while headwind startups ruthlessly cut costs
“I think what I would suggest to founders is that if you're in a lift sector, which is positively structurally favorable, then you want to dominate, you know, win market share keep customers with you. If you're on the other hand in a tougher sector, then you wa…”
Prediction Held up
The supply of gig workers will definitively increase post-COVID
“I think you know, on the supply side, which is the supply or the number of gig workers, I think will definitely go up.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
The startup market will see a wave of healthy, non-distressed consolidations
“One of the things that will happen is I see also a wave of Consolidations and mergers, M&A, right? More the M side than the A side. Consolidation doesn't necessarily mean distress. I mean, good companies banding together, right?”