Safe Mode
Safe Mode is when you temporarily run only the essentials because your system feels overloaded. Just like a phone that's glitching or slowing down, you close extra applications, reduce background noise, and stop adding new demands so nothing crashes. It's not about solving everything or pretending nothing's wrong — it's about stabilizing. You lower expectations, simplify the day, and protect your energy until your system feels steady again.
Aman Narang and Toast Surviving COVID
Safe Mode is about shutting down the non-essentials and running only what keeps the system stable. Toast laid off 55% of its team — a brutal but clear signal that Aman Narang was stripping the company back to what it needed to survive. Extra initiatives, growth plans, expansion bets — all of that got paused. What was left was a smaller, focused team building specific tools that restaurants needed right now: QR codes, off-premise ordering, contactless menus. The company ran lean and tight until things stabilized.