Neil Davidson at Red Gate Software published this post on OnStartups in response to Jason Cohen’s post, 6 reasons why this economy is good for startups.
Neil chidingly curses Jason for beating him to the punch, but comes up with 6 more great reasons for why now is as good a time as any for startups.
I’ve listed the 6 reasons below, but without full explanations, so I suggest you head over to OnStartups and check out the full article.
6 More Reasons Why Now is the Time to Hatch Something New:
1. VC money is hard to get. Yes, this is a good thing.
2. Even if you are unlucky enough to get VC funding, the odds are still good. In the late 1990s, in the days of Webvan, pets.com and Boo.com, the five year survival rate of VC-backed software companies was still close to 50%.
3. You need constraints to build great software. If there’s one thing we’ve got plenty of in this economy, it’s constraints. Make good use of them.
4. Constraints enforce discipline. Now is an excellent time to forge some key skills.
5. Times are turbulent, but the turbulence contains many pockets of opportunity. Big companies will be too large, or too clumsy or too slow to fill these pockets, but you, as a startup, can.
6. In difficult times, skill and hard work, which you can control, become more important than luck, which you can’t.
Other Key Takeaways:
- The oft-stated fact that 90% of startups fail within their first year is an urban myth. In reality, the four year survival rate for IT startups is over 50%.
- Starting up isn’t for everybody, but don’t use the state of the economy as an excuse for inaction.
If you’re hooked, read the full article: More Reasons Why Now Is The Time For Hatching Something New by Neil Davidson | On Startups
Photo credit: Yanov
