Comments on: Entrepreneurs Will Save America

By: Sayem Islam

Sayem Islam — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:54:44 +0000

@Will

Thanks, Will. I’m working on Helptwits, which is a Twitter-integrated social search application. All you have to do is ask a question by updating your status with “??” at the end to get several answers back from other users.

http://helptwits.com for more details; launching soon!

By: Will

Will — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:58:26 +0000

@Sayem

Thanks for your comment. I am glad the posting has such meaning for you. I wish you the best with your startup. Can you share what you are working on?

By: Sayem Islam

Sayem Islam — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:50:06 +0000

Will, thank you so much for posting this. Seriously.

Random comment here, I know, as this was posted quite a while ago, but I’m a recent college graduate currently working on a start-up, so this really hit me when I first read it.

I’ve got it as one of my top bookmarks and it’s one of the few posts that I turn to now every so often for motivation.

Thanks for the amazing message here and the important reminder of why our generation needs to stay focused and keep working hard for the sake of the future.

By: Will

Will — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 03:02:01 +0000

@Taylan Thanks for your comments! There is positive energy out there, we just have to harness it and support it.

By: Taylan

Taylan — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 08:12:28 +0000

Great article. Since mood and expectations amplify the effects of or sometimes drive most financial crises, with its optimism entrepreneurship seems like the perfect antidote

@powerstone
I think how much you will feel the pinch depends on which sector you are in. I have a startup in agricultural biotech and we expect a drop in demand for crops in general, but this is being matched by a drop in oil prices hence lowering our costs. Also some industries actually do better during downturns, like entertainment.

By: Zeid Barakat

Zeid Barakat — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:58:20 +0000

Great blog Will!

Just a few thoughts:
-A foul economy definitely impacts potential buyers. However, startups that manage to cut costs for downstream businesses, offer higher quality service or offer breakthrough technologies will always find a customer base.
-These emerging startups will also be tried and tested. Assuming they emerge from a recession, a latent demand can wait on the other side.
- In times like these, people are paranoid of losing their jobs and recruitment can be difficult. On the flip side however, those hires who you can secure have an even greater sense of urgency, and an even greater desire to succeed.

Best of luck!
Z

By: Tania Aidrus

Tania Aidrus — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:59:08 +0000

Will this was great and much needed! I think this message really needs to be publicized more heavily!

By: powerstone

powerstone — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:03:45 +0000

Yeah, exactly. And I suppose start-ups will be in a position to offer more competitive prices due to having less ‘bloated’ structures and less unnecessary staff. By their very nature they have to be leaner, more efficient businesses just to survive! I’ll look forward to reading your further thoughts on this if you do write that post!

By: Will

Will — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:26:58 +0000

@powerstone If I interpret your question correctly, I think you are asking if the buying power of customers of small businesses will decrease, thereby threatening the survival of small businesses.

This is an important issue. I think the short answer is that innovative business models around pricing can be created to overcome the apparent decrease in willingness to pay. I will need to think about this a bit more and will try to publish a post in the next week on this topic if I can.

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