Don Dodge writes an interesting blog post about starting a company during a downtime, it includes: "Customers are willing to try new things to save money in bad times. When things are going great they don't want to take risks on a tiny startup. If you can save them money in bad times...they are happy to deal with a startup."

I'd add to that. Companies that offer a genuine energy savings, good for the environment and good for the pocketbook, will have a big advantage. These gains are seen by customers as PR bonuses, and money savers. That said, if your business model needs 300M in capital costs, that could be much harder to raise.


Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing: Start a company in a recession? Absolutely!: