Daryl Hatton's
Growing Pains

We have been doing some in-depth research (good work Nat!) on our potential market and finally see both the massive opportunity in the market and the breadth of competition we face. While the second aspect is certainly frightening it was also very reassuring; the existence of competitors who are more than just startups proves the existence of a market. Our original hope was to find more of a “green field” with fewer competitors and hopefully therefore an easier time for our startup company to establish a presence. Unfortunately, there are not as many big “green fields” around any more and the ones that are there tend …

… but I didn’t have the time. This famous quote from Mark Twain comes to mind from time to time when working on important documents. This weekend I’m again amazed at how long it takes to make a good 15 minute twenty slide PowerPoint presentation. Throwing together twenty slides of dense text bullets is easy. Forty is easier! Getting twenty graphical slides that succinctly and effectively communicate precisely the right amount of the right information is a daunting and time consuming task. Figuring out what information is most important to the target audience is tough at the best of times. It is even tougher as an entrepreneur who …

This article appeared on Paul Graham’s blog. I think it agrees strongly with my point of view that good companies can start and thrive in any economy. Bad economies are in many ways a tailwind that helps propel us (i.e. good companies) forward because it keeps the “silly people” from starting bad businesses that destroy the value in the market. The article is quoted below. To leave comments with the original author, click his comments link at the end. The economic situation is apparently so grim that some experts fear we may be in for a stretch as bad as the mid …