1. DON'T save. DON'T sell equity (ie. Don't raise capital). DO take on as much debt as feasible. DO use said debt to employ the inevitable cheap labor and capital goods to run profitable ventures.
2. Yes, I was laid off from a start-up then joined as one of the first at an already profitable pre-seed start-up that would raise $20M with 3. Mistake #1: I saved instead of doing the smart thing and taking on massive debt. My savings and small debts inflated away over the next decade. My colleagues who opted for large debts had their large debts inflated away and faired much better than I did in the end.
Mistake #2: After the highly successful exit I joined a start-up with the hot "growth before revenue" strategy. The only thing that grew faster than our user base was the dilution of our equity. Investors won while we gave up years of work for a slice of the pie that got disgustingly small for the risk we took as founders.
To sum it all up:
Profit before growth. Leverage the things the recession makes cheap due to other people/businesses no longer being able to afford them (e.g. talent). Fund profitable new business with debt. If you sell equity, only do it after proving that you can do it with debt and exhausting the option for debt. Despite VC funds drying up, you'll be the belle of the ball if you've proven you have created a reliable money printer.
Caveat: If you can't make a reliable money printer, find someone who has and join them.