What connects an airline pilot in April 2020, a Serbian taxi driver in January 2020, and today’s Iran war? Two survival rules for leaders.

When COVID-19 struck 6 years ago, Yonder, the B2B SaaS company I co-founded, was just closing its seed round. Given our heavy focus on aviation, COVID-19 severely damaged our pipeline and significantly deteriorated our business outlook.

At that time, as a very young company, we had manageable fixed costs, could shift down a gear, and weather the storm. Not so a friend of mine who was an airline pilot at the time. Airlines have huge fixed costs, and pilots are used to high salaries and living standards.

I remember the day in April 2020 when he called me to say that he had decided to leave his airline job. He told me he wouldn’t count on a rebound in aviation after COVID-19. 

Remember, April 2020 was just one month after the pandemic started, and long before we had an mRNA vaccine and COVID certificate apps. No doubt my friend did a bit of scenario planning before deciding to leave his well-paid, much-loved job as an airline pilot.

Fast-forward to 2026 again. Here are two lessons entrepreneurs can draw from my pilot friend’s 2020 decision.

1. It Pays Off To Act Early

My pilot friend acted earlier than most other people working in aviation. He was already settled into his new job when the first airline layoffs materialized. And when aviation rebounded after the lockdowns, and all airlines were short of pilots, he even secured a part-time comeback as a pilot.

Acting early pays off, as long as you act consciously and without hyperventilating.

My pilot friend is not the only person who acted early in the COVID-19 pandemic. I remember a taxi ride in Vienna, Austria, in January 2020. I chatted to the taxi driver, who happened to be Serbian. We were chatting about this novel virus in China, when, out of nowhere, the taxi driver told me that he had sold two of his three cars and fired all his employees. With a puzzled look on my face, I asked him why he did this. He said, “Look, I’m from the Balkans. For my entire life, I’ve seen crises come and go. This China virus thing can wreck the whole travel industry, so I want to be ready. I can always rehire people and buy cars again once the crisis is over.”

What a contrast to the lazy, cozy, and risk-averse mentality in the spoiled West. We should learn from the Balkans.

2. Talk About Bad News And Crises

Another thing the spoiled West should learn is to talk about bad news and crises. When two entrepreneurs meet in the West, the first thing they do is to ask each other how business is going. The second thing is that they tell each other that business is going great.

Really? Maybe this answer was right in the boom years between 2009 and 2020. But today? I would suggest you follow my pilot friend’s or the Serbian taxi driver’s approach: Talk about bad news and what you intend to do about it. Everything else is denial.

Why should you talk about your entrepreneurial difficulties? The first reason is your own mental sanity. If you continuously fool yourself into thinking that everything is fine, you will be shattered when you suddenly hit a wall. The second reason is that as a leader and entrepreneur, you have a responsibility you cannot delegate. You cannot walk away from adversity just because it’s difficult. But you can talk about your difficulties to other people. And the more people you talk to about your difficulties, the higher the likelihood that somebody will point you towards a good solution you wouldn’t have found yourself.