Serial entrepreneur Rajesh Sawhney feels global crises are a golden opportunity for technology to accelerate

Having lived through three global financial crises - the 2001 dot-com bust, the 2007-08 housing market crash and the recent pandemic - Rajesh Sawhney, founder and CEO of GSF Accelerator, believes global crises are a golden opportunity for technology to accelerate. Sawhney recently took to Twitter to share some lessons he's learned.


There was always an underlying risk
The 2001 dot-com bust was preceded by super inflated dot-com prices, financial over-engineering that disguised the risks in housing asset preceded the 2007-08 market crash and this year, a lethal virus beat the tepid response of many governments, said Sawhney. “Signs were out there but ignored,” he tweeted.


Tech has an opportunity to accelerate
“After each crisis, the ‘March of Technology’ accelerates. After 2001, there was the rise of Google, Facebook & Amazon. After 2007-8, there has been a rise of shared economy (Airbnb & Uber) + Cloud & SaaS companies like AWS & Salesforce. Inevitably, there will be new superstars (after this pandemic),” he said.


Strong becomes stronger
Sawhney believes stronger companies will always find ways to survive these crises. “Strong become stronger & weak die in these cycles of evolution: Strong Apple & Microsoft keep becoming stronger after each crisis. High profile Enron died after dotcom bust & Lehmen died after 2008 crisis.” In India, Sawhney cited the example of Vodafone and Jio. “Vodafone is ailing while Jio has accelerated.”

Stock markets recover first
“Stock markets always recover ahead of the recovery in the real economies,” posted Sawhney. “It’s no different in 2020, after a deep fall in March 2020, markets across the world have bounced back. Markets are optimistic & buoyant even though most economies are still hurting.”


Look on the bright side
Sawhney also believes pessimism has no place after a crisis and that a pessimistic mindset might have worked better in 2019. Instead, the serial entrepreneur recommends staying optimistic. “Optimists create wealth & invest in the green shoots. They believe in the inherent capacity of humanity to bounce back.”