I recently facilitated a conversation among four entrepreneurs, each leading their organizations to the other side of the current pandemic. They are from different industries, in varied stages of growth, facingunique strategic partner and investor dynamics. Yet they could not have been more aligned in how they are embracing the future. Here are ten insights from our conversation.

Test Your Assumptions. Vince Talbert, CEO of Thrive Software and a serial investor and entrepreneur, started. “Take a deep breath, test all your assumptions, in times of great uncertainty, create and maintain as many options as possible as we don’t know what the future will look like.” His advice couldn’t be clearer: understand the current assumptions in your business model and be ready to adapt.

Respect Downside Risk. Michael Curry, CEO of Apex Physics Partners, mused how entrepreneurs, being optimists, are wired to assume things will always go well. And when they don’t, entrepreneurs feel blindsided. A crisis like today, “exposes that the way we build businesses is not to be anti-fragile.” To be able to calibrate expectations for growth in an uncertain world and to invest in people and technology requires for Michael a deeper respect for downside risk.

Have Compassion. Heather CouvillionLufburrow, CEO of LufCo, developed a resonanttheme. For those organizations which have made investments in their talent, who have built solid foundations on which to communicate, who have fostered collaboration, they have created an environment of trust enabling them to explain “what’s going on, what’s the outlook, what does it mean.” Celebrate this strength and build on it. But equally importantly, Heather continued, “have the compassion to understand each individual and what they’re dealing with.”

Communicate Reality. Jason Pappas, CEO of RocketDocs, emphasized the importance of communicating with transparency and realistically. “When dealing with your board and investors, share good news quickly, bad news immediately and never surprise a board or an investor.” Be realistic when forecasting the consequences of not meeting expectations. “When you spin results, the ramifications and fallout are significant.”

Align Expectations. “While growth is the end result that we’re all aiming for,” Michael noted that “the prudent investor understands that survival is really what we’re aiming for.” “Your tone should ensure it’s the investment we’re protecting against the downside, and [we should] build consensus and alignment on what investments we are committed to make so we are poised to grow on the other side.” Test that consensus on a continuing basis. Agree on how resources are to be used. Constantly calibrate and align expectations.

Survive in Advance. All businesses have boundaries they feel safe operating within,with edges that appear fraught with peril. For Vince, the challenge lies in the “safe harbor”; survival comes with navigating “those edges.” Playing it safe may very well cut off an organization’s long term viability. “A short term [strategy] that leads to nowhere is devastating,” Vince cautions. “You quickly find out where the sacred cows are and how to live for another day.” Survive in advance; survive without cutting off your future.

Today’s Narrative: Tomorrow’s Culture. What organization, when reaching the other side, doesn’t want to grow? Since we’re all in the people business, Michael rhetorically asked “what are the stories our team members are going to tell others who we want to join us in the future about what happened and how we handled this moment that no one could plan for: that people weren’t straight with me, didn’t communicate with me, had me do what they wouldn’t have had a family member do, or is the story that the team was straight with me, was transparent, updated me, over-communicated…” How you handle this moment with your team becomes a business imperative for your future growth andfostersyour culture for the other side.

Listen; Adapt. Each CEO is exploring with their customers what their needs truly are, and probing how, as Heather explained it, they could together “move into spaces where there is immediate need or into different promising spaces.” She explained the process, as “find[ing] resonance with your clients.” Michael underscored that “while optimism is critical, so too is transparency and showing vulnerability.” Vince added, “listen for opportunities to help, as you might discover something that is even better than what you were currently offering.” Keep testing your assumptions and constraints; that is where opportunity lies.

Understand What You’re Competing Against. For Michael, “if you’re growth minded and want to disrupt the competition, this is the perfect time to have fundamental conversations with your clients and prospects.” “In growth mode, you’re selling not against a competitor but the ‘status quo’”. For most companies, the status quo is no longer tenable. “Throw pomp and circumstance out of the window,” explains Michael. Stop showing up to sell what you already have. “We get fixated on the reality of the world we see in our head,” explains Michael, “versus really engaging with customers and asking them what they really need.”

Business Hat: Human Hat. The conversation moved to the concept of being vulnerable. Michael underscored that “by taking off the business hat and putting on the human hat, relationships become stronger when they’re able to be real.” For Vince, “you learn quickly what you should have been doing all along; we get so transactional that we lose sight of the human part. To be successful you have to relate to people on a human level.” The pandemic has opened a door to connect with people deeply, to be vulnerable and create meaningful connections. As Vince explains, “this isn’t about your sale anymore this is about survival; first you build around that deep human connected relationship, doing the transaction becomes second nature, the trust is the hardest part.” Small acts of being human can be transformational…

As we finished our conversation, I asked what excited them about the other side. For Michael, “Covid 19 has not knocked out the American entrepreneurial spirit, the ingenuity one can already see as we navigate out of this. Those companies that make the mistake of wondering ‘how do we get back to normal’ are missing a huge opportunity.” For Jason, “we are living through a reset of personal and business paradigms… those that get that the old ways of doing business, communicating, and processes are out the window are going to be part of the new way of doing business.” For Heather, it has “allowed us to focus on things that have been on the back burner, and watch as we build more of a team culture… it’s inspiring to find how we can help our clients do more with less.” Finally, for Vince, it has afforded him the “opportunity to try things that you were not willing or able to try before, to test and learn, we are seeing the opportunity that technology brings to enable a better work life balance to the world.” My appreciation goes to Vince Talbert, Michael Curry, Heather Lufburrow, and Jason Pappas for their candor, thoughts and, most importantly, faith in what the future will bring to those who stay focused and engaged on the other side.

Newt Fowler is a business transactions attorney in Womble Bond Dickinson’s Baltimore office. He’s been active in the region’s technology community for over three decades.