For this article, we’ve talked to some of the brilliant Epicenter members and friends to get a better picture of the situation in their respective industry. Future scenarios, current status, as well as tips on how to move forward will be touched upon. For example cryptocurrencies drops of over 50 % and an increased need for digital tools in the real estate industry.
Frank Schuil, CEO, Co Founder and Board Member at Safello
With the outbreak in Europe the overall cryptocurrency market responded by seeing a huge sell off. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies alike saw drops of over 50% in the span of a week. This is likely the result of traditional firms offloading their perceived risky assets. Today (18/3/2020) is the first day where we saw the market crash while the cryptocurrency market remained stable. Going forward we can anticipate three scenarios:
The market…:
The third scenario is what cryptocurrencies were originally designed for and what we have seen in countries like Venezuela. In response to hyperinflation the demand for Bitcoin (and it’s price sky rocketed). The real break of trend should be followed not in this initial response, but on the longer term trend. I’ve described this in my recent Medium post.
Victor Karlsson Co-Founder Propstreet
In the commercial real estate industry, all asset classes will see a negative effect. Retail and hotel vendors will suffer most due to decreased consumption and tourism. We expect the transaction volume to slow down due to a more uncertain future. Some investors believe in a “catch-up effect” in Q3 2020.
Commercial real estate is one of the largest and most important asset classes, but also one of the least technologized. Lately, I have received plenty of questions of what digital tools people should use to keep their business running. This is hopefully bad wake-up call that digital tools are important.
Kotada Yonus, Founder & CEO at Aktarr / Diversity Advisor at the startup house of Malmö Minc
We have been witnessing around 100k new readers. These readers are searching for all kinds of information. Families are for example worrying about the mental health of their children and how they should talk to them. Small startups and businesses are asking how they can access government fundings and many other kinds. But the one thing that unites all these readers, is that they are feeling very lost. Not just the Covid19 but also the lack of information in Arabic from the authorities. Therefore we started a new theme in our platform called Covid19 Sweden, and we are transiting all Infos we can from MSB, 1177, and folkhalsomyndigheten.
It’s an interesting time that I am sure we will go fine after it, and we learn a big lesson about how information critical, especially now when it’s about life and death for many people.
Karin Zingmark, Strategic advisor, Author, Speaker, CEO at Zingmark Consulting
Communication has always been crucial to good leadership, but today more than ever. Communication in the sense of being present, opening up for dialogue, taking the human perspective and enforcing trust. Remember to stick to your WHY and your values. They create a sense of belonging, and create clarity on your targets and goals which might need to be revisited depending on how hard Corona has affected you. Initiate daily check- ins using the video function, afternoon coffee-breaks with the teams online and possibly also joint lunch breaks, and use the time spent together to build stronger teams. Because a crisis can actually strengthen you, if it’s done right. And remember – this too shall pass.
