2025 is leaving all of us confused

Like pretty much everyone in this state, we’re all confused by what’s actually happening in the market. With a self-inflicted trade war caused by largely one person who is unpredictable, it’s an incredibly difficult time in business.

We’re fortunate that we live in financial services and we don’t have products to manufacture or import. Those that import goods from China are especially feeling the blunt end of the trade war. I wouldn’t even know where to begin if I worked for one of those companies. I feel especially for the small and medium businesses of the world that are dealing with this crisis in real-time.

Despite not having any products that will have a direct impact of the tariffs, we of course are dealing with the secondary effects in the market. 2025 was supposed the year the IPO cracks open, even if it was just a little. There should have been at least a few IPOs by now if not for Trump’s trade war.

The liquidity in the market is desperately needed and the uncertainty of the months ahead are surely preventing anyone from going public right now. There’s not much we can do at this point.

For us, it’s business as usual with some minor tweaks. We’re continuing to be smart with hiring and growth plans. We’ve put off our hiring at least in the short-term until we can get a bit more clarity on what’s actually going to happen. We’ve adjusted our growth plans down a bit to cater for the uncertainty.

Nearly every person I talk to is in the exact same position. We’re all confused by what is happening and what will happen. I do know that there are still great companies being built right now and that IPOs will come back at some point. We’ll continue to focus on what we know and find the right opportunities.