It’s been a while since we last published anything in our blog.  Not that we ran out of things to say, but perhaps we are either fundamentally focused on clients and “business” or that we’re procrastination enthusiasts.

In any event, here we are in Mid-May in week 764 of the lockdown and quarantine here in Texas.  We are slowly and arbitrarily re-opening across different business types and allowable capacities.  No one really knows how this will all go and since none of us has gone through anything like this before, we’re not sure if this is the right path or the wrong path.  There are no shortage of experts and opinions from economists and epidemiologists and those of us who seemed to have learned both disciplines overnight.

As far as the middle market is concerned, my non-scientific and 100% anecdotal analysis is that companies, investors and lenders are largely open - meaning, real people are reviewing existing and potentially new opportunities from home or in a super-modified office arrangement that minimizes human contact.  Human contact might be the most over- and under-appreciated variable in all this.  At some point, the world will start to spin on its axis again and we’ll be able to work directly with other human beings with whatever further physical restrictions might be required.

Much of what we do in the middle market deal space can largely be done anywhere - laptops and phones are really the tools of the trade.  Zoom or Google meetings, virtual conferences and webinars were once exceptions, but now are the lifeblood of our industry.  Screaming kids, background noises and visible (and audible) pets were grounds for severe “judgment,” but in a universe where we’re all pretending, none of these seem to detract from work getting done or at least 90% of work getting done.

For us at HarloKyn, we miss the office and each other, but we seem have hit the appropriate reset buttons to stay safe and have re-learned to become effective again.  While much of the industry’s deal calendar has been largely pushed out a few months or quarters, being able to stay in touch with our network through calls and sometimes FaceTime has kept the dream alive, whatever that means.  Speaking with other adults who don’t live in my house has been oddly energizing.  What I have noticed, however, is that my real-time, face-to-face interactions with people have obviously been limited, but when they happen, they’re a little awkward - seem to have lost a step.

I’m sure that we’ll all once again pick up on social cues and wear actual pants with belts again, but I have taken for granted how daily and random human contact and conversation shape my attitude and worldview.  I am confident that all of us will find the right footing again and we look forward to the precautions we must all take to restart deal activity - actually, all and any kind of activity.