FYI: the headline is a reference to a poem by Ogden Nash:

A flea and a fly in a flue
Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly, “let us flee!”
“Let us fly!” said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

The Wuhan Flu has certainly been consuming the headlines globally and we all know the drill: wash your hands often with soap and water (using hand sanitizers does have consquences) avoid large crowds (is it canceled yet? your list of cancelled large industry events); companies are encouraging employees to cancel non-essential travel; dispense with hand-shaking as a salutatory greeting, hide under your desk and cover your head, in case of a nuclear attack…

We do take this flu seriously and personally take precautions. However, we did feel that somewhat of a lighter touch might be called for right about now, as well as lessons that entrepreneurs might learn from this experience:

 

Going viral – If there’s one lesson that the spread of COVID-19 should have taught entrepreneurs, it’s that going viral does potentially have consequences and can be quite dangerous. Viral growth is all well and good, but is there a sustainable business model to back it up? Ah, for once, we don’t have to call it the lessons of WeWork, in case you missed it the first time.

 

The Law of Unintended Consequences:

	Mike Bird (@Birdyword)
3/7/20, 12:17 PM In locked down Wuhan, teachers use an app called DingTalk to set homework. Kids realised if it got enough one-star reviews it would be removed from App Store. Thousands of reviews flooded in, and DingTalk’s rating fell from 4.9 to 1.4 overnight. Legends. lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/…

Ok, they may not be bad actors in this case, but always good to know from whom the reviews are coming and why…

 

Working Remotely:

As Pitchbook pointed out, “PitchBook and other companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Redfin have started sending workers home (or have at least encouraged them to work remotely), in some cases telling them not to return until April.” Not all companies provide childcare. Considering how quickly the ability to work remotely was enacted in the case of COVID-19, couldn’t such policies, at least on temporary or floating bases, be enacted in the case of childcare? Or temporarily caring for a sick or elderly relative?

 

Zoom

We’ve mentioned the platform before. The video communications tool debuted in a crowded space, and not only managed to achieve profitability: the stock is soaring, thanks to Wuhan. Investors (and entrepreneurs) take heed: there is no such thing as game over, and in tech, never dismiss the possibility of someone coming along and building a better mousetrap.

 

Be Mindful of Opportunities

Always know your audience. Be mindful of the total addressable market (TAM). Coronavirus: Vietnamese COVID-19 video goes viral as prevention message proves popular.

 

Above all, remember: this flu is not life-threatening in most cases, death rates are decreasing, and this just in: Science May Have Discovered Regular Drinkers Of Hard Liquor Are Better Protected From Coronavirus. Of course, we’re not advocating drinking to excess, even if it is purportedly medicinal, nor can we testify to the veracity of this article. We will, however, mention that since we are personally immune deficient, thanks to Lyme disease, we were able to secure woefully difficult to find N95 masks, at their normal price, even after Amazon et al were out of stock or charging surge delivery pricing.

Specifically, from an old-fashioned brick and mortar hardware store that did not have a website.

Always keep your wits about you, take a deep breath and at least once in a while, try thinking outside of the box – and the screen. Above all, keep calm, carry on and keep in mind that Spring and warmer weather are just a few weeks away. If history and science are any indication, virus season will pass and we will all have fled through that flaw in the flu, and once again go onward and forward.