The World Post COVID-19: Silver Linings for Business - Conference Call Series

Milken Institute Context:

• Launched "The World Post COVID-19" webinar series to address global transformations, currently hosting weekly sessions on Fridays at 8:30 a.m. Singapore time.
• The Institute is addressing the crisis through two primary strategies: mitigating economic/human impacts and preparing business leaders for the future.
• Faster Cures Tracker: As of the webinar date, 182 potential treatments and 99 vaccines are currently in development.
• Regional Dashboard: A specific Asian crisis dashboard was created to correlate government reactions (public health decrees, stimulus packages, financial aid) across seven nations with positive case counts.
• Healthcare Tracker: Proster Cancer Foundation launched a peer-reviewed real-time tracker detailing COVID-19's specific effects on cancer patients.

Global Business Impact & Sector Disparities (Raj Ganguly, B Capital):

• The crisis is unprecedented in stopping the global business environment, creating a sector-by-sector divergence in performance.
• Portfolio Data: B Capital holds 36 investments across three continents, with impacts ranging from total halts to significant slowdowns.
• Growth Sectors: Digital health and virtualization tools are outperforming, doing "better than ever before" during the pandemic.
• Strategic Mindset: Most entrepreneurs are currently focused on recession survival, with few planning for rebound or business reimagining.

Entrepreneurial Mindset & Ecosystem Health (Magnus Grimeland, Antler):

• Portfolio Scale: Antler manages 170 portfolio companies across six continents, categorized into halted businesses, struggling businesses, and those growing 10x due to the crisis.
• Founder Obligation: Leaders emphasize a "warrior mentality," framing business success during the crisis as an obligation to create employment and GDP growth for societal recovery.
• Growth Metrics: Antler has built 60 companies within four months across six continents, focusing on solving crisis-related problems like supply chain security, edtech, and health tech.

Operational Resilience & Content Strategy (Chhatri Sirikijpong, ONE Championship):

• Physical Halt: Live sports events have ceased due to border closures in approximately 92 countries and regional lockdowns.
• Media Growth: Despite the halt in live events, ONE Championship's reach, frequency, and engagement numbers have increased across 150 broadcasting countries via reruns and new content.
• Product Diversification: Launched a global version of "The Apprentice" in partnership with MGM, integrating ONE Championship IP, world champions, and global CEOs.
• Forecast: Predicts 18–24 months of "stops and starts" followed by stabilization, with potential cures emerging in 5–7 days and a vaccine within 18 months.

Political & Economic Analysis of Lockdowns (Chhatri Sirikijpong):

• Mortality Context: Argues that COVID-19 receives disproportionate media focus compared to diseases with equal or higher mortality rates.
• Political Motivation: Suggests lockdown decisions are driven by political calculations regarding election outcomes and unemployment rates (e.g., US unemployment rising from 1 in 5 to potential 1 in 3) rather than solely mortality data.
• Global Coordination: Describes government responses as a form of "peer pressure," where initial hesitation is quickly abandoned once other nations implement lockdowns and testing.

Long-Term Structural Shifts & Opportunities:

• Sector Permanence: While 90% of pre-pandemic behaviors may return (travel, hotels), specific sectors like education, health, and supply chain management face permanent structural changes.
• Education Leap: Anticipates education technology achieving decades of development in weeks, driven by the realization of remote learning capabilities.
• Supply Chain Security: Governments are re-evaluating supply chains for food and medical equipment, a focus last seen during World War II.
• Investment Thesis: B Capital notes that the highest mean returns in the last 20 years for tech startups occurred during the 2008–2010 recession.

Capital Availability & Fundraising Dynamics:

• Capital Volume: Approximately $100 billion in VC capital was raised globally in the last two years (excluding Vision Fund), with Antler raising 10 new investments in the last two weeks alone.
• Survival Thresholds: A Goldman Sachs survey indicates 50% of business owners believe they cannot sustain operations longer than three months in a downturn.
• Acceleration of Profitability: Later-stage companies are compressing 5–10 year profitability plans into 5–10 month horizons.
• Acquisition Strategy: B Capital sees opportunities for established businesses to acquire talent, IP, and revenue at depressed prices, though timing remains a strategic variable.

Leadership & Resilience Frameworks:

• Leadership vs. Company: B Capital research suggests extraordinary times create extraordinary leaders, who subsequently build extraordinary companies, rather than circumstances alone generating success.
• Mission Critical Test: The crisis serves as a filter to distinguish businesses that are truly "mission critical" to customers from those that are merely "nice to have."
• Core Attributes: ONE Championship identifies creativity and resilience as the two most vital attributes for navigating the crisis, emphasizing the need to embrace challenges to test true leadership.