I survived the last economic downturn. I left my first startup which didn't survive the telecom bubble and eventually restart my career in 2003. In the first p

I survived the last economic downturn. I left my first startup which didn't survive the telecom bubble and eventually restart my career in 2003. In the first presidential debate, John McCain uttered the words "this is the end of the beginning" as if the $700B bailout signified the worst of the financial ruin and we should start to work on the recovery. This might be true for the general economy (I doubt it) but it is clearly not true for startups. My advise to startup CEO's is that this is just the "beginning of the beginning". Whatever you do, don't be an optimist. This will get a lot worse for a lot longer. If you don't have enough cash to sustain burnrate for at least two years, you will die. Unfortunately, right now your cash is your most valuable asset, not your employees. Cutting headcount is the only way to conserve cash. Don't rely on the VC's to save your company. They are the wrong people to turn to in a downturn. http://www.lovemytool.com/blog/2007/10/vc-worst-enemy.html http://www.lovemytool.com/blog/2007/10/vc-worst-enemy.html