Life has slowed down tremendously over the last couple of weeks, and while, yes, there are ups and downs, overall I am surprised about the good things that come out of the lockdown: cleansing oneself from #fomo and coffee chats and business meetings we believe we absolutely need to do (but really don't move the needle); finding time to reflect, working on our health and body or even picking up a hobby or project we never had time to do.

And in the middle of it all, there is this absolutely unbelievable and totally unexpected person coming into my life and I find myself in the biggest Social Experiment the Modern World has seen in decades. The story I am going to tell you couldn't be more romantic and is the stuff movies are made of

By Liudmila

In the current fight against COVID-19, as we are furiously trying to expedite the development of a vaccine, I start to hear from my startup friends: I wish I worked in healthcare to really make an impact or I wish I could apply my start-up mentality to speed up the process. As a startuper at heart, I strongly resonate with them. 

However, then I realize that perhaps for once, in drug discovery or technology applied to human lives, there is a reason for why it is good to have red tape and long processes, namely to protect lives.

I don't know about you, but I feel really weird these days: I don't feel particularly happy, but I cannot say that I feel particularly sad either.

Couple of weeks ago, I may have felt anxious, about work, abouth the future, but today, it seems like it doesn't bother me as much anymore. 

It is remarkable to see how the brain switches into survival mode: The lockdown is like running a marathon, if you sprinted the first 5km, you wouldn't last the last 37km, so similarly, your brain stops worrying about things you cannot control anyways and instead preserves energy to fret about things you can actually influence and make a difference. And there is a lot we can do!

One thing Covid-19 made crystal clear to me is what leadership is really about. I remembered learning about different leadership styles in university; I was asked to reflect on my own leadership style during my consulting years; and I have observed and encountered many good and probably many more bad leaders during my career.

Couple of days ago, I experienced the worst possible leadership: My manager forwarded an e-mail from the CFO with a proposed salary cut and requested me to accept it as the cut wasn't too bad compared to others. That's it. The email also seemed like it was hastily typed, perhaps my manager wanted to get down to a clean inbox and this particular email was in the way.

It was the worst delivery possible

Crises are interesting. They are like a reset button. They separate the good from the bad companies, the financially strong from the weaker once. They show how vulnerable companies can become and how some may have been too reliant on their business model.

It has been such a learning curve for me to see and be part of the crisis management in an airline during Covid. More than 90% of revenue of an airline are typically generated by selling flight tickets -- that's billions of dollars generated every single month which are slashed now. Moreover, perhaps due to shareholder pressure on having to be more focused and efficient on the core business, airlines have hardly ever diversified their business to other financially meaningful business streams. Oh shit.

With zero demand, zero sales, how do you stay alive?

By Isa

Today I would like to share with you my Principles for Dating. I am not a dating expert, but since I moved a lot (6 times within 7 years), dating was an integral part for me to feel home at a new place. Over the years, I have gathered some learnings or personal truths that have helped me navigate the turbulent sea of love and relationships.