Chris and I have been asked one question many times in the past few weeks: how will the financial crisis impact the start-up ecosystem? The answer depends partly on your place in that ecosystem but if I were forced to boil it down to one pithy statement, I’d say this: The real world has horned in on our heady idyll and that is a very good thing.
If there’s one point at which Guidewire Group relentlessly hammers, it is this: Remember the Masses. And when cash and attention are flowing to ideas that don’t make sense for everyday consumers – as they have been the past few years – it’s hard to keep that point top of mind. So what if Joe Six-Pack (sorry, couldn’t resist) doesn’t understand lifestreaming? He’s a hopeless fellow who doesn’t understand technology and should stick with digital picture frames, assuming he can get them to work. But as anyone at Pets.com can attest, Joe Six-Pack very much matters. Without him, your product is destined to a very small market of people who will leave you when the next big thing comes around.
So as markets crash around us and VCs become increasingly skittish, what’s an entrepreneur to do? Read the rest of this entry »
