Tips for tough times

Notice a pattern here? Post after post on variations of the economic cold freeze that has us all shivering and desperately seeking the warmth of good news and hope. It's been a month since the election and that vibe has started to fade under the onslaught of daily layoffs. So what's happening in the startup trenches, or at least my little corner of it?

A while ago, before the great September collapse, I'd written a post about three individuals who were considering starting their own ventures. A few months and a few hundred Dow Jones points later, I was wondering how they faring and checked in on them.

The first one is still interested in starting her own venture and has taken the first tentative steps towards it, but the economic conditions are causing her to work longer hours (the do-more-with-less effect seen in every downturn) and she's finding it harder to do anything 'on the side' - but, she hasn't stopped trying. The second one, who's in the Fortune 100 company, is glad to have the job security, but instead of being comfortable with it, has stepped up her efforts on the due diligence to figure out how/when she can launch something. And the young man and his co-founder friend, have both quit their jobs, and are busy vetting ideas. The prevailing economic climate has made them more unsure of funding, but has also made them focus more on ideas that can start generating revenue relatively quickly.

So, yeah, the economy is tanking, but at least these three entrepreneur wannabes haven't thrown in the towel yet. Of course, these folks haven't even started yet so they still have the option to go do other things and they're not facing the same issues as an under-funded startup. What do you do when you don't have the money to grow and have to cut-back but still make forward progress? Here are some tips on startup recession survival (on TechCrunch) from the CEO of Redfin. Main message: keep up the fight.

I think entrepreneurs by definition are optimistic. They have to be, to believe that they can create something from scratch (and its not Grandma's chocolate chip cookies). Recessions can make an entrepreneur wary, and most likely weary too, but they'll keep looking for ways to keep their hopes alive.