The global population is rapidly moving online to fight the COVID-19 pandemic
LIFT99 Tallinn Hubs have been shut down since March 14
LIFT99 Kyiv Hub has been working in “self-serve” mode since March 16
From early on, we introduced the quick option to “freeze” LIFT99 membership fees for the community members who’ve chosen to self-isolate for the recommended 14 days. Safety first!
LIFT99 team is putting together online solutions to serve our startup-minded community and create more success stories among our members
Our Salto Network team is working on a massive project called Salto Growth Camp: EMERGEncy - a 100-hour intense online growth program happening early April. It’s for startups dedicated to fighting the global pandemic, and backed by Estonian president Kersti Kaljulaid, along with co-founders of Skype, Pipedrive, Bolt, Veriff, Testlio, Comodule, and many others. Application deadline: March 27, 2020.
LIFT99 TALLINN HUBS WILL BE CLOSED UNTIL THE END OF APRIL
By the morning of March 13, 2020, Estonia had 41 positive cases of COVID-19. That was also the day we told our community in Tallinn that we’ll be shutting down the hub (for a week, to begin with). No, we didn’t have a sick person between our walls or among the visitors (as far as we know). It was just the smart thing to do. In the same letter we wrote:
“Let’s be honest — we hope that we are overreacting! We would be very happy to be wrong — this would mean that we will be able to see all of you in a week or two.”
It’s now been almost 2 weeks. The rest of the country has joined the #stayhome movement. The government has announced an official state of emergency. Estonian borders are closed, and so is every other gathering place you can think of. LIFT99 Tallinn Hub’s shut-down is currently extended until the end of April.
On March 16, LIFT99 Kyiv Hub followed lead and switched to “self-serve” mode - we sent our team to separate home-offices, while community members could continue working at LIF99 Kyiv Hub at their own responsibility. By that point, Ukraine had officially declared 5 positive cases of COVID-19 and announced closing all retail outlets, except food stores and farmacies.
REMOTE COWORKING
Since LIFT99 has always identified itself as a community of like-minded people, rather than a physical coworking space, we’ve taken our work online and embraced the opportunities of being fully remote! This really is a chance to create useful connections in a whole new way and explore the potential we’ve been missing out on.
We’ll keep on lifting our members higher. The next example of this is next Tuesday - tune in to our live webinar to hear how 99math and MEMSQL have taken advantage of the current crisis to grow their KPI’s and help their customers in a time of need. The webinar is moderated by Ragnar Sass, the CEO of LIFT99.
We’re currently brainstorming how to elevate the LIFT99 backstage channels, such as the community Slack that currently has 500 members. Updates coming next week!
We’ll be taking our public events, workshops, inspiration mornings, mentorship sessions and office hours online. To keep on connecting our members with each other and valuable mentors, we’ll be multiplying the number of events we organize in week, focusing on the specific needs and challenges our startup-minded community has right now.
Community keeps on mingling and partying, online! This Friday, we’re turning back to the 90’s with online chat rooms and little online games. Nothing lets out steam like a dose of nostalgia. New work-connections are a bonus. #BYOB
LIFT99 has got partners and perks, from various software discounts to free legal counselling and telecommunications solutions. We’ll continue to offer these and find new ones, focusing on what would serve during the time of crisis.
Most importantly, the desks and chairs might be gone, the legendary kitchen table might be out of reach, the coffee machine is crying in solitude… but the community is still going strong and our team is still here. Our mission is to see our community members succeed - each and every one of our 28-person team in Salto and LIFT99 is dedicated to that goal, with their time, know-how, energy and skills. Just reach out and ask! We’ll emerge stronger from this, together!
STAY HOME
Our team is working from 28 home-offices, across 28 locations, in 4 countries. We fully stand with the #stayhome movement! Like the Prime Minister of New Zealand said: “Act like you have COVID-19 and take all actions accordingly.” Everyone’s effort makes a difference right now! The better we are at following this advice, the sooner we can return to our dear hubs in Tallinn and Kyiv.
As always, if you’ve got questions, ideas or feedback, let us know. And remember: every challenge is just an opportunity in disguise.
Stay strong & keep on rocking the online life!
Your LIFT99 team
Can’t stop, won’t stop - LIFT99 is rolling on, online!