There are so few upsides to COVID except for one that comes to mind. It’s from a marketing and sales side of my business. Client attraction, particularly for startup and early-stage companies is difficult. The sales cycle is long and sometimes convoluted. It is was hard before and even harder now to find “good” clients: ones that have a strong message and are commercial with a real service need or product. It use to be the case you had to get in the car and drive more often, stay overnight to watch company presentations at demo days. That was besides the expense of these excursions and the travel time wasted.
Now the day is filled with ZOOMS. Accelerators, incubators and universities presenting their best and brightest graduate companies, all at the touch of a couple keys. And then there is the virtual cafes and other similar watering holes that present instant meet-ups with opportunities to meet startups and co-investors and a whole lot of other very interesting people that you wouldn’t meet otherwise at an open forum. Take advantage of these opportunities during this period even though they will never entirely disappear; hopefully, there will come a day when we once again pack venues to hear live pitches. That day will be some time off in the future, however.