16-Hours of Zoom

Last Thursday and Friday I spent over 16-hours on Zoom. Now, ordinarily, that would be the start of a “woe is me” type article, but not in this case. I feel blessed that I was able to do so. Yes, my butt was a bit tired of sitting. Fortunately, my wife saved the day with a quick purchase on Amazon of a seat cushion.

Why was I “blessed” to have spent that many hours staring at little boxes of faces on a computer screen? Because those boxes were filled with the people that make this industry amazing.

The Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute became a virtual event last week. Thanks to the efforts of Gary and his team, Carlene, Lisa, Alex, Julie, Antonio, and others, our community was able to still have one of its most important gatherings of the year.

At this weird moment in time, to have so many of the industry’s entrepreneurs, investors, and sages come together was vital. It was an opportunity to share what is known while simultaneously accepting that we are all dealing with not knowing, with uncertainty.

I took away a few new tidbits and confirmed others, some of which I’d like to share below:

• No doubt, the Natural Products Industry is the best place to ride out this storm.
• As Andy Whitman says, “Cash is king,” and the king’s reign is going to last for a long time.