Leading Amidst Uncertainty

April 2025

By Kelly Porter, Lead Managing Partner, Woodside Capital Partners

WCP is a Silicon Valley-based investment bank – M&A advisory, capital raising; 120+ companies advised in the past five years; 20 bankers – most previous entrepreneurs or C-level executives at large tech companies.  Kelly grew-up in Silicon Valley and has spent the last 25+ years advising (and in some cases financing) thousands of entrepreneurs – both the famous and the obscure – who are building tomorrow’s economy.

We’re living through one of the most complex and volatile business environments in recent memory.  Equities markets are down about 17% from their peak in February and the volatility index is up 89% YTD.  Consumer sentiment is down 30% YTD, second lowest level since 1952, according to the University of Michigan.  Whether you see the actions coming out of the White House as bold, visionary and historic, or instead, as chaotic, ill-considered and historic for the wrong reason, the world’s largest economy is in next-level uncertainty.

So for those who are running emerging growth tech businesses, what do you do?
You lead.

In recent days, I sat with about a dozen of my best, most-competent CEO and investor friends and asked how they are showing up in this moment.  Here’s a summary of what I heard:

1. Have a Plan, and Project Confidence in It (Even If You’re a Bit Uncertain)

Your various constituencies – team members, board, suppliers, customers, investors – are watching you closely. This is the time to build scenarios and decision trees, decide what the best plan is, and show up with clarity and confidence. Acknowledge the uncertainty, but don’t let it paralyze you or your organization. Team members want to know the plan. Investors want to know you’ve thought through the downside and the upside.  Be honest, be steady, and communicate like it’s oxygen.

2. Stay Hyper-Close to Your Customers

Customer priorities might be shifting faster than your product roadmap. Pick up the phone. Go see them. Ask what’s changed, and then adapt quickly. In an environment like this one, you can’t afford to operate on six-month-old assumptions.  The world has changed. Flexibility in pricing, packaging, and delivery may be particularly necessary at this point. Remember that one of your customers may be a strategic acquirer down the road.

3. Make Your Supply Chain a Strategic Asset

If you’re in a market that relies on a supply chain, you’re probably facing new cost and logistics challenges if you’re sourcing from overseas.  This could be an opportunity for you.  Remember that you’re only as strong as your weakest supplier. Perhaps a better supplier is on-shore in the US.  Build relationships, not just contracts. Diversify where you can. Treat suppliers like strategic partners. They’ll remember who worked with them when things got tight.  As above, remember that one of these suppliers may be a strategic acquirer down the road. 

4. Narrow the Focus. Speed Up the Clock.

Long-term strategy is still important—but execution in the next 90 days is more important. Pick 2–3 priorities that actually move the needle. Make sure everyone knows them. Then execute like hell. Speed, focus, and accountability will beat bureaucracy every time.

5. Defend Your Cash—but Don’t Play Scared

Yes, conserve cash. Yes, revisit your burn. But don’t go into survival mode unless you have to. Great companies are still getting funding, and getting built in markets like this. Growth, acqui-hires, distressed assets, neglected customers—there’s opportunity out there if you’re looking through the right lens. Good offense wins in the long run.

What about M&A in this environment?

It’s been more active than you might think, and it may be an opportunity for you.

While headlines tend to focus on the struggles of unicorns chasing outsized valuations, the broader M&A market has remained surprisingly resilient.  2025 deal volume through April 1 was slightly ahead of last year and consistent with the pace we’ve seen over the past five years—even with ongoing volatility and tight regulatory scrutiny:

President Trump announced the tariff plan on April 2, and despite the volatility that has happened in the aftermath, 50 M&A deals closed in tech (38) and healthcare (12) in the 20 days since.  Some argue that these 50 deals were so far down the road that they were impossible to cancel; in general, if acquirers really wanted to cancel or retrade (offer less $ consideration for) those deals, they would have.

While we expect to see some slowing in the market due to the uncertainty, especially at the high-end of the market, we also see opportunity in various quarters:

• Invest in R&D through M&A to better align product portfolios towards a larger platform play – especially in industries like Cyber, AI, Infrastructure as the tariff exposure is lower/delayed.
• Buy American – there are 662,000 private tech and healthcare companies headquartered in the USA.
• Acquire against supply-chain exposure that companies may have faced during COVID, by making value-based tuck-ins or strategic partnerships.
• If you’re a seller, remember that there’s almost always a competitive market for well-run companies with strong teams, products, and customer bases.
• Previous “this time it’s different” downturns have lasted a quarter or two – for example, although M&A volume dropped by 50% in Q2 2020 from 500 to 250 deals, it came back by Q4 2020. So if M&A is a potential strategy for your company, setting things in motion now may position you well for an acquisition at the end of 2025 or in early 2026.

Leading Amidst Uncertainty

April 2025

By Kelly Porter, Lead Managing Partner, Woodside Capital Partners

WCP is a Silicon Valley-based investment bank – M&A advisory, capital raising; 120+ companies advised in the past five years; 20 bankers – most previous entrepreneurs or C-level executives at large tech companies.  Kelly grew-up in Silicon Valley and has spent the last 25+ years advising (and in some cases financing) thousands of entrepreneurs – both the famous and the obscure – who are building tomorrow’s economy.

We’re living through one of the most complex and volatile business environments in recent memory.  Equities markets are down about 17% from their peak in February and the volatility index is up 89% YTD.  Consumer sentiment is down 30% YTD, second lowest level since 1952, according to the University of Michigan.  Whether you see the actions coming out of the White House as bold, visionary and historic, or instead, as chaotic, ill-considered and historic for the wrong reason, the world’s largest economy is in next-level uncertainty.

So for those who are running emerging growth tech businesses, what do you do?
You lead.

In recent days, I sat with about a dozen of my best, most-competent CEO and investor friends and asked how they are showing up in this moment.  Here’s a summary of what I heard:

1. Have a Plan, and Project Confidence in It (Even If You’re a Bit Uncertain)

Your various constituencies – team members, board, suppliers, customers, investors – are watching you closely. This is the time to build scenarios and decision trees, decide what the best plan is, and show up with clarity and confidence. Acknowledge the uncertainty, but don’t let it paralyze you or your organization. Team members want to know the plan. Investors want to know you’ve thought through the downside and the upside.  Be honest, be steady, and communicate like it’s oxygen.

2. Stay Hyper-Close to Your Customers

Customer priorities might be shifting faster than your product roadmap. Pick up the phone. Go see them. Ask what’s changed, and then adapt quickly. In an environment like this one, you can’t afford to operate on six-month-old assumptions.  The world has changed. Flexibility in pricing, packaging, and delivery may be particularly necessary at this point. Remember that one of your customers may be a strategic acquirer down the road.

3. Make Your Supply Chain a Strategic Asset

If you’re in a market that relies on a supply chain, you’re probably facing new cost and logistics challenges if you’re sourcing from overseas.  This could be an opportunity for you.  Remember that you’re only as strong as your weakest supplier. Perhaps a better supplier is on-shore in the US.  Build relationships, not just contracts. Diversify where you can. Treat suppliers like strategic partners. They’ll remember who worked with them when things got tight.  As above, remember that one of these suppliers may be a strategic acquirer down the road. 

4. Narrow the Focus. Speed Up the Clock.

Long-term strategy is still important—but execution in the next 90 days is more important. Pick 2–3 priorities that actually move the needle. Make sure everyone knows them. Then execute like hell. Speed, focus, and accountability will beat bureaucracy every time.

5. Defend Your Cash—but Don’t Play Scared

Yes, conserve cash. Yes, revisit your burn. But don’t go into survival mode unless you have to. Great companies are still getting funding, and getting built in markets like this. Growth, acqui-hires, distressed assets, neglected customers—there’s opportunity out there if you’re looking through the right lens. Good offense wins in the long run.

What about M&A in this environment?

It’s been more active than you might think, and it may be an opportunity for you.

While headlines tend to focus on the struggles of unicorns chasing outsized valuations, the broader M&A market has remained surprisingly resilient.  2025 deal volume through April 1 was slightly ahead of last year and consistent with the pace we’ve seen over the past five years—even with ongoing volatility and tight regulatory scrutiny:

President Trump announced the tariff plan on April 2, and despite the volatility that has happened in the aftermath, 50 M&A deals closed in tech (38) and healthcare (12) in the 20 days since.  Some argue that these 50 deals were so far down the road that they were impossible to cancel; in general, if acquirers really wanted to cancel or retrade (offer less $ consideration for) those deals, they would have.

While we expect to see some slowing in the market due to the uncertainty, especially at the high-end of the market, we also see opportunity in various quarters:

• Invest in R&D through M&A to better align product portfolios towards a larger platform play – especially in industries like Cyber, AI, Infrastructure as the tariff exposure is lower/delayed.
• Buy American – there are 662,000 private tech and healthcare companies headquartered in the USA.
• Acquire against supply-chain exposure that companies may have faced during COVID, by making value-based tuck-ins or strategic partnerships.
• If you’re a seller, remember that there’s almost always a competitive market for well-run companies with strong teams, products, and customer bases.
• Previous “this time it’s different” downturns have lasted a quarter or two – for example, although M&A volume dropped by 50% in Q2 2020 from 500 to 250 deals, it came back by Q4 2020. So if M&A is a potential strategy for your company, setting things in motion now may position you well for an acquisition at the end of 2025 or in early 2026.