jordan willms on business, entrepreneurship, technology and the web

Unless you have been living under a very large rock, you are well aware of the financial turmoil that is ripping through financial markets and the housing sector in the US. It has been causing outrageous commodity prices, higher than normal market volatility, and a general 'bearish' attitude towards the worldwide economy.

So then, what are the effects of these jitters on the investment environment for investors that invest in web 2.0 related ventures?

For starters, many argue that the Tech IPO Window has Slammed Shut. That being said, I think entreprenuers are going to have to face some realities.

There is a good thread on LinkedIn about this, readable here:

http://www.linkedin.com/answers/financial-markets/equity-markets/MKT_EQU...

Today I attended YCombinator’s Startup School event at Stanford University. YCombinator, an innovative (and controversial) Venture Capital firm, works with carefully selected entrepreneurial startups over a summer session in Boston, and injects a small amount of money into these startups in exchange for 5% ownership of the company.

Speaker: Paul Graham, Partner, Y Combinator; Founder, Viaweb
Title: Why to not not start a startup?

Paul gave an excellent presentation regarding the excuses that people tell themselves (whether valid or invalid) to not try a startup (or join one).

At YCombinator, Paul claims to have a 50% succeed rate with an expected 25% long term success rate. He also states that 100% of YCombinator graduates would not trade their experience for a desk job in a cubicle.

So why don’t people quit their jobs and get going with a startup?

1. I’m too young
   
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ProjectOpus.com, a DRM-free online music community, recently released a screencast (watch below) detailing the launch of their new "Music Importing Tool". These new features mark a strategic change for the company: Site members can now organize their music collections and create playlists that include both the music of ProjectOpus artists, and any music found on the web. They can also tag, organize their song collections, which can then be shared via player widgets that can be embedded into MySpace/Facebook/Bebo/Hi5/Friendster or their blog.