Metabolic Suppression
In business terms, metabolic suppression translates to burn rate reduction - cutting operational expenses to minimum viable levels.
Metabolic suppression is the core mechanism of hibernation - a systemic reduction in energy consumption across all body systems. In grizzly bears, this manifests as 75% reduction in calorie consumption, heart rate dropping from 50 to 8 bpm, breathing slowing from 8 to 1 breath per minute, and body temperature falling from 98°F to 88-93°F. Deep hibernators like ground squirrels achieve even more dramatic suppression: 95-98% metabolic reduction with body temperature dropping to near-ambient (0-5°C). The trade-off is restart risk - deeper suppression means harder restart.
Business Application of Metabolic Suppression
In business terms, metabolic suppression translates to burn rate reduction - cutting operational expenses to minimum viable levels. The target is 60-80% reduction from normal operations. This requires asymmetric cuts (eliminate entire functions rather than proportional reductions) and protecting only essential capabilities needed for restart.