Is it a good time to start a business?

The economic news of the last few weeks has been grim. But things may not necessarily be so bad in the start-up sector. Opines venture capitalist Carl Weissman in a recent posting on Xconomy, “The investments that I am making…are generally years from accessing public markets or being acquired, so current market conditions are not high on my list of considerations. Great technologies emerge in both bull and bear markets…”  As a result, Weissman wrote, he’s viewing his work in the current economy as “pretty much business as usual.”

What’s more, there’s definitely a school of thought that maintains recessions are good  times to start businesses. The thinking goes thusly: talent and space are cheaper, you don’t get caught up in overoptimism, you develop a culture of thrift — and only the strong survive.  Of course, it’s easy to say that in retrospect, but several successful company founders who launched innovative products shared with Inc. magazine stories of how starting in a recesssion was good for them. “Starting a business in a recession is like vacationing in the off-season,” one entrepreneur told Inc.. “It’s a little less crowded, and everything starts going on sale.”