Innovation & The Recession
“chaos creates opportunity and leaner times bring focus”
Re: The Silver Lining, MIT Tech Review, http://www.technologyreview.com/business/22477/
We face the ultimate question if a recession is really the best time to be starting a new company. There are two ways to see it: Resources are cheap and there is practically free-labor available, but on the flip side there is no money to support these start-ups and your consumers are not looking to spend money.
It is not surprise that most companies that have emerged are tech firms where their success is based upon their user base. People are able to take their skills that may seem simple to them (Blogging, Twittering, Social Media) and using it to develop innovative yet simple ideas that cater to their consumers. People are curious beings and are generally accepting to new ideas especially when they view it as a “novel” idea.
- Mobclix – Krishna Subramanian – Helps iPhone developers monitor and profit from their apps
- Pownce – Leah Culver – now-defunct microblogging site, now she is working with social technologies at the bloggigng site Six Apart
- 12seconds – Sol Lipman – creating “Twitter” for Video
POSITIVES: People have passion, There is talent, Large companies fall & new openings are made, Cheap resources, VCs actually like writing smaller checks to internet companies vs. one big check to a large company
NEGATIVES: Everyone wants to do it, Most Star-ups flop, Hard to force a sale, Hard to recruit people by providing stock options – not as appealing, Difficult to predict the next success
HOT AREAS: Social Media, iPhone/Mobile space, Open-Source software
When it comes down to it, you’ll never know if you’ll succeed until you try. This is the time to take the risk, if you can motivate yourself to take the leap.
