Surely you’ve heard. The winds have shifted. Layoffs are ticking up at well known startups across the funding spectrum from public companies on down. You’re likely hearing the volume turned up on sayings like “renewed cost discipline”, “focus on profitability”, “wartime mentality”, or even the dreaded “shift in strategy”. These types of announcements are already sending ripples through teams, organizations, and markets. Is any of this really surprising?

A 13 year bull market fueled by historically low interest rates coming out of the Great Recession. Crypto fortunes made in months. Crazy fundraising multiples against tepid revenue figures. I mean it’s not like there hasn’t been any evidence of overextended boom times. The signals were there! Like every other time. It’s not so shocking if you’ve been paying any attention. Whether we like it or not.

To say it plainly, we’re very clearly in the midst of a downturn.

For how long? Nobody knows. Maybe it’s a recession.  Nevertheless, there’s a chill in the air as we approach the summer months. In times like these teams are going to be asked to work harder, sharpen their approaches, and cut unnecessary projects (or products). But the most essential thing you can do in a time like this for yourself and for your team is to see reality clearly.

How clearly is your view of the current sales plan and its attainability? How well are you tracking against the product roadmap and its adoption?

Because the hardest thing is not watching the stock market go down. The hardest thing is making sure your reality matches THE reality. Then you can plan. Allocate resources. Put yourself on firm footing for the potential rockier times ahead.

Tough times ahead? We’ll see. Might as well still plan…and see…accordingly.