update: Sorry for the harsh language here, I’m not trying to offend anyone. I’m a firm believer that you can’t always censor yourself and this is a good example of that. It’s not that I’m not well read or can’t think of better words to use, it’s that I want to get the point across and sometimes strong language is the best way to do so.
Around a week ago I wrote a post that I realize was perhaps too negative, the post was about the current economic condition and the hardships that we are facing (or are going to face). In retrospect I realize that one of my regular readers, Simon, from the Sims Agency was right. I was far too negative and if I have put any of you in a bad mood I do apologize. I realize that the economy is in a state of shit and that people are struggling, but I also realize that that’s the nature of the game. We are always going to have to overcome obstacles and we will. It’s just a matter of working a little bit harder, we have good times and we have tough times, that’s just how it is.
I was reading Dave McClure’s post on fear and realized that he is absolutely right. Fear is a mind killer of silicon valley, if we all just sit around thinking about how screwed we are then we are going to make matters worse. I think we all need to take a step back, just take a deep breathe and know that everyone will get through this. Being in a startup (or for that matter any company) is hard work and we all know that. We know that with every job and with every company come risks and it’s our job to do what we can do hedge against those risks. Instead of panicking and running around like chicken’s with our heads cut off why not try to think of other things that we can be doing with our time.
Diversify your time; maybe you can start that blog you’ve always wanted, or do some freelancing work, maybe now you can spend more time on yourself and not worrying about the world. Down time’s provide a unique opportunity for the real entrepreneurs to shine through.
Let’s be smart about what’s going, we don’t need to brush it off but at the same time we don’t need to freak out and panic, let’s just be smart and see what we can do to help each other out. Maybe you start going out to eat a little bit less then you used to, maybe you take one less vacation, maybe you don’t go clothes shopping for 3 months; whatever it is I’m sure there’s a way that all of us can save ourselves a bit of money.
I’m beginning to become more and more optimistic and I think we all should be. We don’t need anymore negative bullshit floating around. We have all seen the articles on techcrunch spewing fear out into silicon valley and that’s not doing anybody any good.
I say Fuck negative, stay positive
what say you?
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