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Get ready for mass business failures : Texas Startup Blog

7 points by bradleyjoyce 18y ago

callmeed 18y ago
"Who is to blame? We are - i.e. you and me." Don't blame me. My business pays its bills and payroll out of the money we make every month.
sabat 18y ago
Get ready for mass predictions of the future based on conjecture.
- amuse 18y ago
  I was only referring to the practice by banks of freezing credit lines for small companies. This WILL create a snowball effect forcing companies to close their doors. We have to figure out a way to inject confidence in the credit system...
  - gills 18y ago
    You are right, some will have to close down. In all fairness, they should have seen this coming and they should have had more cash on hand. Many businesses anticipated the downturn and started building cash reserves a year or two ago.
    - chollida1 18y ago
      > In all fairness, they should have seen this coming and they should have had more cash on hand. That may be true for existing business but that is a pretty harsh sentiment to apply to a business just starting out. It's pretty hard to save when you are just starting to grow revenues or when you are even earlier in your business cycle.
      - amuse 18y ago
        Of course it is easy to build cash reserves if you are an established company, but an early stage services company would be hard pressed to work without short term credit. A world without short term credit looks a lot like the third world. I prefer living here (at least I used to).
amuse 18y ago
Lovely, I am not really that negative a guy... But this post may lead you to believe I am...
- callmeed 18y ago
  I don't think you sound negative, but I'm not really keen on your use of the word "we" everywhere. I don't run my business that way, I didn't buy a house I couldn't afford, and I never encouraged anyone else to do those things.
look_lookatme 18y ago
Alex Muse is a moron. No, seriously.
- amuse 18y ago
  Thanks. Of course morons everywhere are offended. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moron_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moron_(psychology)
cardmagic 18y ago
"Who is to blame? We are - i.e. you and me" This guy is so quick to judge, so quick to place blame on such a complicated issue. What a massive over-simplification on such a dynamic and complicated issue.
- rickd 18y ago
  No kidding. And just who exactly is he calling WE? I've worked like crazy to pay off my credit cards/loans and keep them paid off. I bought a house I could afford (<1/3 of income) with a large down payment (> 20%). I've saved on my own as well as in my partially matched 401k. I have a 6 month emergency fund. Sure, this all means that I don't have a car and take public transportation- and my computer/stereo/tv/etc aren't brand new. But have those TINY sacrifices been worth it? Absolutely! I am not we. So explain to me why I should bail them out? Whey you've got things you can't afford, or you're a bank leveraged at 30 or 50 to 1, you are risking it all! When you lose it all, it's not exactly a shock to those of us that have been extra conservative with our money.
  - amuse 18y ago
    We as in US citizens. George Soros has done a great job of living within his means and obviously so have you, but WE as in at least 43% of Americans haven't. Also, YOU (i.e. WE) keep electing these freaks in Congress and in the White House. Why do we have a 10 trillion dollar debt? Why do we think we can keep borrowing year after year?
    - rickd 18y ago
      "I am not we" was just my playful way of saying: overgeneralizing gets this article nowhere. The idea that 57% of us should (or even CAN) bail out the rest of "us" is distasteful, not to mention unfair. Those of you that buy things you can't afford should lose the things. You aren't entitled to a house, you BUY it. You aren't entitled to a wage, you EARN it. However, I completely agree with you about the deficit, "we" can't keep it up. I am personally exercising my abilities through votes/calls/etc.
noonespecial 18y ago
Loved this: FTA: In the 1970s the average size home was 1,400 square feet, today the average is over 2,300 square feet. Are we that much bigger? Sadly, yes. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/index.htm http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/index.htm
- amuse 18y ago
  LOL - I knew when I wrote that someone would pull up obesity data... :)

7 points by bradleyjoyce 18y ago

"Who is to blame? We are - i.e. you and me." Don't blame me. My business pays its bills and payroll out of the money we make every month.

sabat 18y ago

Get ready for mass predictions of the future based on conjecture.

amuse 18y ago
I was only referring to the practice by banks of freezing credit lines for small companies. This WILL create a snowball effect forcing companies to close their doors. We have to figure out a way to inject confidence in the credit system...
- gills 18y ago
  You are right, some will have to close down. In all fairness, they should have seen this coming and they should have had more cash on hand. Many businesses anticipated the downturn and started building cash reserves a year or two ago.
  - chollida1 18y ago
    > In all fairness, they should have seen this coming and they should have had more cash on hand. That may be true for existing business but that is a pretty harsh sentiment to apply to a business just starting out. It's pretty hard to save when you are just starting to grow revenues or when you are even earlier in your business cycle.
    - amuse 18y ago
      Of course it is easy to build cash reserves if you are an established company, but an early stage services company would be hard pressed to work without short term credit. A world without short term credit looks a lot like the third world. I prefer living here (at least I used to).

amuse 18y ago

Lovely, I am not really that negative a guy... But this post may lead you to believe I am...

callmeed 18y ago
I don't think you sound negative, but I'm not really keen on your use of the word "we" everywhere. I don't run my business that way, I didn't buy a house I couldn't afford, and I never encouraged anyone else to do those things.

look_lookatme 18y ago

Alex Muse is a moron. No, seriously.

amuse 18y ago
Thanks. Of course morons everywhere are offended. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moron_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moron_(psychology)

cardmagic 18y ago

"Who is to blame? We are - i.e. you and me" This guy is so quick to judge, so quick to place blame on such a complicated issue. What a massive over-simplification on such a dynamic and complicated issue.

rickd 18y ago
No kidding. And just who exactly is he calling WE? I've worked like crazy to pay off my credit cards/loans and keep them paid off. I bought a house I could afford (<1/3 of income) with a large down payment (> 20%). I've saved on my own as well as in my partially matched 401k. I have a 6 month emergency fund. Sure, this all means that I don't have a car and take public transportation- and my computer/stereo/tv/etc aren't brand new. But have those TINY sacrifices been worth it? Absolutely! I am not we. So explain to me why I should bail them out? Whey you've got things you can't afford, or you're a bank leveraged at 30 or 50 to 1, you are risking it all! When you lose it all, it's not exactly a shock to those of us that have been extra conservative with our money.
- amuse 18y ago
  We as in US citizens. George Soros has done a great job of living within his means and obviously so have you, but WE as in at least 43% of Americans haven't. Also, YOU (i.e. WE) keep electing these freaks in Congress and in the White House. Why do we have a 10 trillion dollar debt? Why do we think we can keep borrowing year after year?
  - rickd 18y ago
    "I am not we" was just my playful way of saying: overgeneralizing gets this article nowhere. The idea that 57% of us should (or even CAN) bail out the rest of "us" is distasteful, not to mention unfair. Those of you that buy things you can't afford should lose the things. You aren't entitled to a house, you BUY it. You aren't entitled to a wage, you EARN it. However, I completely agree with you about the deficit, "we" can't keep it up. I am personally exercising my abilities through votes/calls/etc.

noonespecial 18y ago

Loved this: FTA: In the 1970s the average size home was 1,400 square feet, today the average is over 2,300 square feet. Are we that much bigger? Sadly, yes. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/index.htm http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/index.htm

amuse 18y ago
LOL - I knew when I wrote that someone would pull up obesity data... :)