Gopika M: Surviving Black Swans: How To Build Resilient Structures & Navigate Unpredictable Events

In this talk, Gopika shares her experiences leading strategic pivots in e-commerce, micro-mobility, and B2B sectors. She discusses how global events such as economic shifts, customer dynamics, and AI impact major organizational changes. Gopika offers practical strategies, spanning from identifying early indicators to team alignment and navigating obstacles. This talk is highly relevant for product leaders, managers, founders, and entrepreneurs aiming to thrive in dynamic environments.

Transcript

1. SURVIVING BLACK SWANS: Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024 Gopika M. Director of Product, BestSecret Group How To Build Resilient Structures & Navigate Unpredictable Events
2. MindMagic July 2024 Economic Cycle Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
3. "Economies of different countries have worked in essentially the same ways for as far back as you can see so that the most important cause-effect relationships are timeless and universal." Economic Cycle Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
4. Economic Cycle Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
5. MindMagic Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
6. Opening up our closed dedicated B2B platform to a self service model Focussing only on the top 2% of our userbase The rise of Gen AI Story 1: Story 2: Story 3: Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
7. Generating <€50k Generating <€50k-€250k Generating >€250k User Group New User Group Generating <€50k Generating <€50k-€250k Generating >€250k Story 1: Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
8. Profitability per rider Revenue per rider Story 2: Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
9. First Time Users Infrequent Ideal VIP First Time Users Infrequent Ideal VIP User Base Split Revenue Split by User Type Story 3: Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
10. Companies are leveraging Generative AI to swiftly curate, select, and showcase popular trends to customers, replacing the previous manual methods and surpassing competitors by addressing user needs more quickly Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
11. Making this transition was not easy… Supply chain disruption Conservative VCs Reduction in marketing budgets Changing customer expectations Reduction in internal resources Employee experience Appetite for risk taking Panic Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
12. Supply chain disruption Conservative VCs Reduction in marketing budgets Changing customer expectations Reduction in internal resources Employee experience Appetite for risk taking Panic Making this transition was not easy… Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
13. Supply chain disruption Conservative VCs Reduction in marketing budgets Changing customer expectations Reduction in internal resources Employee experience Appetite for risk taking Panic Making this transition was not easy… Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
14. Supply chain disruption Conservative VCs Reduction in marketing budgets Changing customer expectations Reduction in internal resources Employee experience Appetite for risk taking Panic Making this transition was not easy… Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
15. Supply chain disruption Conservative VCs Reduction in marketing budgets Changing customer expectations Reduction in internal resources Employee experience Appetite for risk taking Panic Making this transition was not easy… Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
16. Supply chain disruption Conservative VCs Reduction in marketing budgets Changing customer expectations Reduction in internal resources Employee experience Appetite for risk taking Panic Making this transition was not easy… Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
17. Supply chain disruption Conservative VCs Reduction in marketing budgets Changing customer expectations Reduction in internal resources Employee experience Appetite for risk taking Panic Making this transition was not easy… Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
18. Supply chain disruption Conservative VCs Reduction in marketing budgets Changing customer expectations Reduction in internal resources Employee experience Appetite for risk taking Panic Making this transition was not easy… Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
19. HOW DO WE ACTUALLY PREDICT THESE UNPREDICTABLE EVENTS? Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
20. EXTRAPOLATE Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
21. “ Take known data and use it to make an educated guess about something outside of that data range Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
22. Look at the trends around you Geopolitical tensions Technological advancements Environmental trends Changes in customer expectations Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
23. Geopolitical tensions Technological advancements Environmental trends Changes in customer expectations GDPR in Europe Sustainability Goals Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
24. Geopolitical tensions Technological advancements Environmental trends Changes in customer expectations Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
25. HOW DO WE BUILD RESILIENT STRUCTURES TO DEAL WITH UNPREDICTABLE EVENTS Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
26. 1. We prepare 2. We simulate 4. and We conduct post mortems 3. We diversify Financially Customer Base Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
27. 1. Preparedness Financial Customer Base Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
28. 1. Preparedness Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024 💰 Financial
29. 1. Preparedness "Getting paid upfront by your customers is the cheapest form of funding." Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
30. Preparedness Simulation Post Mortem Diversification Financial Customer Base Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
31. 2. Simulation Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
32. 2. Simulation Model and analyze the behavior by recreating "possible" real-world events Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
33. Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024 2. Simulation What would you do: If energy prices rose sharply? Your biggest supplier went bust? You couldn’t procure products from a specific country? Your payment system came under attack? Your top clients could no longer invest in your services?
34. 3. Diversification "Balancing risk portfolios is essential. Over-reliance on single markets or products increases vulnerability." Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
35. 3. Diversification Example How companies diversify their payment merchants to ensure business continuity planning Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
36. 4. Post Mortem ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☑ What was the main cause of the problem? What steps did we take to try and prevent? Did we miss any warning signs? Were there any factors beyond our control? Did we overlook any dependencies? Did we have the right tools and technologies to diagnose and fix the issue? Were there any gaps in our risk assessment or contingency plans? Was the incident well-documented, and can we replicate the solution? How can we prevent this from happening again? Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
37. Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
38. 1. 2. 3. Extrapolate Financially, your customer base, and your culture Prepare and Protect Simulate, Diversify to de- risk and De-Brief Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
39. There’s no 100% fail- proof way to handle change Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
40. "If the winds are changing, a smart sailor will adjust their sails." Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024
41. THE END
42. Any questions? /gopikaem Gopika M Gopika M, Turing Fest 2024 Director of Product, BestSecret Group