Michael Arrington On What Works In The Current Economic Climate

    I acknowledge that our postings have a been a bit video heavy lately and continue to be so this week, but still wanted to give you a few, what I think is very useful, soundbites from Michael Arrington, editor and founder of TechCrunch. Despite the on-going general post-LeWeb brouhaha in the web, this is worth a watch. Andrea Vascellari, CEO of iTive.net consultancy did a good job asking Arrington where he sees the startups given the current economic climate.

    Here’s the key take aways from the video:

    • In a tough economic climate winners find an aggressive way to expand without spending a lof of money by
      • Reducing head count
      • Paying lower salaries now that they are collectively down
      • Paying less for everything = lower expenses overall
      • Acquiring competitors pennies for dollar when they are about to belly up
    • A lot of startups make headcount adjustments already, which is probably a smart move (Think Fruugo and Blyk)
    • Those startups that have better execution end up being winners (this is something that I believe always bares repeating even though it’s a no-brainer)
    • Remember that this downturn is different! Those who act as they acted in the previous one probably end up being one of the losers.
    • You have to be quick on your feet and agile
    • Those who focus on technical market analysis on what used to work tend to too poorly in the new climate: You should look at the playing field as a new one and compete given that