Your sentiment is overall very valid, however please also remember this was PG who wrote this in 2008 and YC was only 3 years in. > I'm guessing it's being pos

Your sentiment is overall very valid, however please also remember this was PG who wrote this in 2008 and YC was only 3 years in. > I'm guessing it's being posted again due to the recent layoffs. This was submitted again (by someone not affiliated with YC), but it's a repost. Objectively speaking starting a startup in a recession / bad economy is actually a good idea. There are numerous examples of why this is the case, but the simplest explanation is that you get to follow a regular venture cycle that correlates to the highest returns. Since it usually takes about 7~10 years to get to $1b+ valuation, this follows a normal market cycle. There is a reason an unprecedented amount of software companies IPO'd 2020~2021, because valuations were sky high, and not because of those individual businesses were strong but simply because the market was hot. If you can ride that wave you can create incremental wealth for yourself, regardless of whether a VC is involved. In other words, timing is everything and starting when the market is at the bottom is good timing.