1. Lecture 1-4 Now Is the Time!

2. Starting When “Times Are Good”

3. Starting When “Times Are Good” Are Sales a Result of a Superior Product, or Just a Sign of the Times? Good Times Can Hide Flaws A Company Built in Good Times Will Struggle When Bad Times Come Fund Raising Should be Done Counter-Cyclically. If You start in Good Times, Will Be Selling in a Down Market

4. Starting When “Times Are Bad”

5. Starting When “Times Are Bad” Forces a Bootstrap Forces More Persistence Makes the Entrepreneur Hungry! – “The hungriest wolves hunt best.” Angels and VCs More Interested in Different Ideas Like “vacationing during the off-season.” = Less Crowded and Cheaper Prices The Product (and sales pitch) Must Be Perfect When the Economy Picks Up, the Company Is Fine-tuned

6. Starting When “Times Are Bad” No Big Staff or Fancy Offices During Recessions, Employees Are Afraid of Losing Their Jobs, in a Recession Start-up, Employees Are Excited to be Building! When Others Are Firing, You Can Hire the Best Big Firms Cut Back on R&D = Opportunity Contract Manufacturers May Be More Willing to Take On New Projects Don’t Cut Back on Marketing Use the “We don’t have much overhead, so we can pass the savings on to you” Pitch

8. Domino’s

9. Super 8

10. Microsoft

11. Symantec

12. Wikipedia

14. The Four Myths of Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurs Are Born, Not Created Companies Should Be Started in Good Times Entrepreneurs Are Risk Takers Entrepreneurs Are Creative