There's hope!

No this is not about the election (though today is election day and I'm voting for hope and hope the majority does the same). It's about the wobbly times we're in. Credit crunch, sinking home values, disappearing jobs, diving stocks and a general feeling of global malaise.

I know there's a ton of ink, digital and otherwise, comparing these times to the Great Depression, which most of us have only read about. But, there's also the comparison to the 70's, which were marked by inflation, high gas prices, political blunders and crashing stock markets. And it was exactly in those gloomy times that the fired-up Jobs, Gates and others launched their now iconic startups.

I'd read that the Chinese word for crisis, weiji, is made up of the characters for 'danger' and 'opportunity'. Wikipedia assures me that it's a common misconception, but there's a reason why it is so - it sounds cool and inspiring, and a lot easier to remember than the other description that I've already forgotten.

So, yes, this is the time for opportunity too, as long as you can be patient and don't expect the dot.com boom-like fast returns which were fueled on hype (hype is suspect now). You may have to reset your expectations on what people would want/need, but wants and needs are still out there and can still be filled with innovation and enterprise. And there are even investors who're willing to fund ventures now, as long as there's enough substance that they can start to dream too.

For entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs who're willing to work harder and longer, these are times of hope - if they could innovate their way of the 70's doldrums, we sure could do it now!