Winter is coming

Winter is coming
startuplessonslearned.com

- Stock Market Drops. VCs Hold Partner Meetings. What Happens Next?

"I (Mark Suster) told him (entrepreneur), 'close your round by August 2nd. After that, all bets are off.'" - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2864031

- For Some, Rude End to IPO Dreams

"The sound you just heard was the IPO window slamming shut," wrote Geoff Yang, a partner at venture capital firm Redpoint Ventures in Menlo Park, Calif" - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2866438

- We're in the second dip of the global economic depression

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2860910

I totally agree with this sentiment, and totally think that it's only a matter of time until we need to start dealing with the consequences of not being prepared for the "Winter". I'm also interested in seeing which players end up being "part of the NightWatch" and keep going because it's what they love and pledged their dedication to, and which players are only in it to play the "Game" and see whom can get the most money, popularity, recognition, etc. Also, as a fan of the books I loved the analogy between the Ice and Fire saga and entrepreneurship this days.

1. The bubble for already funded companies burst in the 90s but that didn't dry up funding. The truth is a wealthy person's best bet in a down economy is a small startup. Because the potential upside is so much better than any other investment. A company like Y Combinator can literally fund hundreds of startups and as long as at least one has a significant payday at the end Y Combinator still comes out on top.

2. The problem with borrowing money now, as an American, is the dollar is falling and most people expect another round of Quantitative Easing which will almost certainly exacerbate that. It usually doesn't make sense for a startup to borrow a significant amount of money in a currency whose value is dropping. Because you only get so many funding rounds and you don't want to waste them by not getting enough money to buy what you need. Which is what happens when a currency's value drops after you get the funding.