Surviving & Thriving During A Pandemic Bill Baumel, Managing Director, Ohio Innovation Fund Bill Baumel, Managing Director, Ohio Innovation Fund At a post-9/11, 2001 investment conference, a company CEO presented a single-slide deck — a picture of a train wreck. Sequoia released an infamous investment memo at the start of the ’08- ’09 financial crisis. The key takeaway? “The world has ended.” In March of 2020, Sequoia released another memo following similar talking points. “No, really this time, the world has ended.” So, why do I have renewed hope for innovation and startups despite the effects of COVID-19? I was investing in Silicon Valley post-9/11 and during the Great Recession, and what I saw was companies hoping to fit into one of two buckets: Survive or Thrive — and to avoid the dreaded third bucket of Perish.