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A comment on Ask YC: Is there a recession/depression coming?.

Re:Ask YC: Is there a recession/depression coming? by skmurphy on Tuesday December 11, 2007 @02:29PM (#88351)
A recession is the best time to start a firm. Most companies make more mistakes and develop more bad habits when times are easy than when times are tough. It may take tough times to uncover the bad habits you developed and the unrealistic assumptions that you made when times were good, but it's the bad habits that are responsible, not tough times.

Focus on customers and revenue and a value proposition that's compelling even when times are tough. Sooner or later your startup will face tough economic times, sooner is better.

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Re:Ask YC: Is there a recession/depression coming? by jwecker on Tuesday December 11, 2007 @03:21PM (#88379)
I agree. As the 37 Signals people say- Embrace Your Constraints.
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Re:Ask YC: Is there a recession/depression coming? by webwright on Tuesday December 11, 2007 @04:24PM (#88402)
This is a great point, IMO. I'd add to it that, if you have a choice, SOLVE A PROBLEM. A recession is certainly a good time to solve a business problem (save your customers time/money) but may not be as good a time for an ad-supported social "fun" site.

Either way, keep it lean (in terms of investment and burn rate).

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Re:Ask YC: Is there a recession/depression coming? by nostrademons on Tuesday December 11, 2007 @09:34PM (#88522)
Recessions are good times to for social "fun" sites too - HotOrNot, Blogger, LiveJournal, PlentyOfFish, Flickr, and Friendster were all started either right before or during the 01-02 recession, and Disney got its start in the middle of the Great Depression. You just gotta keep your cash outlays less than expenses, find a revenue stream other than advertising, and build something attractive enough that at least some people are willing to pay for it.
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Re:Ask YC: Is there a recession/depression coming? by rms on Tuesday December 11, 2007 @09:39PM (#88526)
They're good for alcohol sales too; hopefully it'll trickle down into the more obscure drugs.
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