Voice from the front line: how blockchain companies fight the "epidemic"

In January 2020, the sudden emergence of a new coronavirus cast a shadow over the Spring Festival this year.

In addition to the increasingly severe epidemic situation, the impact of the epidemic on the macro economy and industry has become another focus of attention.

In terms of macroeconomics, it is generally believed that the impact of the epidemic on China's economy is short-term pain and will not change the trend of the medium and long-term economy; in terms of industry, represented by catering, tourism, hotels, retail, real estate, transportation, culture and entertainment The tertiary industry bears the brunt, followed by medicine, automobiles, light industry, and technological hardware.

So, under the epidemic, how did blockchain companies respond to this crisis? How is the return to work? What are the new plans or arrangements for the new year?

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In response to these questions, Babbitt interviewed relevant leaders of companies or departments such as Eurotech Group, Beacon Chain, Yunxiang Blockchain, TOP Network, Baidu Intelligent Cloud Blockchain, Duxiaoman Financial Blockchain and other companies.

Return to work

"We are particularly strict here, buses, taxis, planes are parked, private cars cannot be refueled. It looks like this outside my house."

On the first day of construction (February 3), Babbitt Beijing Station reporter Helen described her experience in her hometown in Xinjiang in a group. She shared two pictures, one with two white seals on the door and the words "February 1st, 2020", the other is a red paper on the door, which says "Do not approach when you watch at home."

On January 26, the General Office of the State Council issued a notice to extend the 2020 Spring Festival holiday to February 2, and normal work starts on February 3. Later, many provincial and municipal governments also issued local extended vacation notices.

Babbitt learned that, in response to the local government's call, most blockchain companies or departments have implemented remote home work from February 3, and plan to return to the office to work on February 10.

In special times, enterprises in major cities generally adopt measures such as extended holidays, working at home, developing early warning mechanisms and preventive measures, regularly recording the health status of employees, and disinfecting and ventilating office areas to ensure rework safety.

In response to this epidemic, Eurotech Group has formulated very detailed prevention and control measures, including initiating flexible working modes, setting different return dates for employees in different regions, establishing an epidemic prevention and control emergency response team, and establishing an epidemic prevention and control mechanism within the company. In addition, Oke Group also established a special fund for epidemic prevention and control of 10 million yuan, and donated a large amount of medical supplies to frontline epidemic areas.

Also actively participating in the public welfare actions in the epidemic-affected areas are TOP Network, Baidu, and Du Xiaoman Finance. TOP Network revealed to Babbitt that the company stipulated that it would officially resume work on February 10. During this period, it was also required to do isolation observation work. Due to the inconvenience of technical development at home, the technical team did not need to work until February 10 The marketing and operations teams are on standby.

The Biyuanchain team officially resumed work on February 3, and the operations, technology and business work were carried out normally. At present, it is also a remote distributed office method. The team and project are carried out through Github, Tapd, Yuque, Email, Nail communication.

Outbreak impact

On February 1st, an article entitled "Sibei Jia Guolong: The epidemic caused more than 20,000 employees to go to work, and the loan salary can only support March." In an interview, Jia Guolong, chairman of Xibei, talked about the operating difficulties caused by the Xibein epidemic: on the one hand, the sharp decline in operating income, and on the other hand, the labor costs that were difficult to bear for a long time.

In fact, in this smoke-free battle against new crown pneumonia, the blockchain industry is facing different levels of difficulties.

When asked "how did the epidemic affect the company's business", Biyuan Chain CEO Lang Yu said that since the Spring Festival holiday has just ended, some Party A companies and institutions have not yet started to work, and online communication will affect the efficiency of project promotion.

TOP Network CMO Wang Yang also had the same concern. "Because we couldn't go out, we discussed the future cooperation issues in the group when we were on the first and second day of the New Year."

Huang Butian, the founder of Yunxiang Blockchain and the co-sponsor of VNT Chain, answered this question from another angle. He said, "It will have a certain impact on the company's operation, especially the part that involves the on-site implementation and delivery of the project."

Compared with blockchain startups, the impact of the epidemic on the blockchain business of Internet and financial companies is similar.

Baidu Intelligent Cloud Blockchain Product Leader Liu Yao believes that the main impact is the inability to communicate face-to-face with customers, and the project's progress is expected to be delayed.

Li Xiaofeng, the person in charge of Du Xiaoman's financial blockchain, held the same view, "Because the blockchain has not yet formed a standardized solution and consensus, and everyone's cognitive abilities are uneven, some projects' preliminary work includes business and technology The effect of face-to-face communication is far better than remote communication. "

It is not difficult to see that the impact of the epidemic on blockchain companies or departments is mainly reflected in business negotiations and business docking.

Due to strict traffic control across the country, on the one hand, businesses cannot conduct business negotiations across the line. For the emerging industry of blockchain, the effect of offline communication is significantly better than online; on the other hand, some The project's project delivery will also be postponed due to the epidemic, coupled with rent and blockchain talent costs, which will cause the company's cash flow to shrink. How can blockchain companies survive in this dilemma?

Coping

On the evening of February 3, Zhu Xiaohu, a partner of Jinshajiang Venture Capital, sent a circle of friends:

"When I was in SARS in 2003, I was still starting a business. In that year, the management only paid basic living expenses and paid the salary after the balance at the end of the year. This year is even more severe than SARS. Control costs, dead card cash, at least keep 6 months of cash assuming no income, preferably 12 months, based on this to calculate the cost. Living on your knees will survive, and spring is the last! "

In order to mitigate the impact of the epidemic on SMEs, in terms of policy, the central bank and other five departments requested financial institutions to increase their credit support for regions, industries and enterprises affected by the epidemic, as well as social and people's livelihood. On this basis, Suzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Huzhou and other places have successively introduced relevant policies.

This battle is inevitable, so how do blockchain companies respond?

Lang Yu believes that blockchain companies, like Internet companies, have more business from online. The impact of this epidemic is relatively small, and it is also possible that more blockchain application scenarios will be born based on the epidemic. We have been exploring these opportunities. He also revealed the plan of Biyuan Chain this year. "The current team's work is focused on the development of MOV and Bystack. All plans are advancing normally and strictly follow this year's Roadmap."

"Yunxiang Blockchain completed two rounds of financing in 2019, and its performance has also achieved substantial growth. We are adequate to deal with the operational risks brought by the epidemic." Facing this crisis, Huang Butian is full of confidence.

Wang Yang is also very optimistic. "TOP Network has financing and business revenue, and the company's cash flow has not been affected. At the executive meeting in early January, we expected to see performance growth this year. To B (for enterprises), Ca n’t go out, we can only discuss future cooperation issues in the group. To G (Government-oriented) business, business docking is relatively easy, because government departments are two-handed, not only to consider the current epidemic situation, but also the future economy Growth. "During a telephone interview, Wang Yang was traveling in Tianjin.

Liu Yao said that Baidu's smart cloud blockchain has adopted online communication. The overall impact is on projects to be signed in Q1. The blockchain is the key national support direction. I believe that the subsequent impact after Q2 will be small. He revealed to Babbitt that more than 5 conference calls with key industry customers have been scheduled this week.

"We are basically unaffected in product and technology research and development." Li Feng further explained, "The Du Xiaoman Financial Blockchain has a relatively standard and shaped product development process, but some face-to-face meetings use telephone or video instead. The impact of the epidemic on R & D efficiency and progress can be ignored. "

Crisis There are opportunities in crisis. This epidemic is an opportunity to test the emergency response capacity of an enterprise, and to handle the crisis well will help improve the culture, cohesion and management of the enterprise. This is even more true for the emerging blockchain industry.

Today is the beginning of spring, when all things recover, time will prove that no winter is insurmountable, and no spring will not come.

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