Crisis Innovation

When orders for Tesla cars outshine orders for the GM Saturn, Steve Westly takes this as a sign that clean technologies are going to help lift America from the recession of 2008/2009. He points to other indicators, such as that abundance of clean tech company IPO's, that will also help add new stems and leaves to the economy. As an aside, he also parallels the difference between US start-ups, enabled by the safety net of a VC-backed ecosystem, and their Chinese counterparts, who are forced to be profitable immediately or shutter.

The economic depression of early 2009 is a great boon for venture capitalists, and an even better time for aspiring entrepreneurs. So says Tim Draper, Founder and a Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, who points out that some of the globe's most dominant brands were initiated during depressions and recessions, benefiting from thinner competition and a world afraid to move. If future business leaders have an idea on how to flip the status quo, this, says Draper, is the time to pursue it.

Less contingency planning, a smaller team, shorter spells of tinkering and perfectionism... Parter at KPCB Beth Seidenberg analyzes the differences in efficiencies between the corporate world and the start-up environment. Retaining its nimble nature, says Seidenberg, is the best way for any enterprise to withstand its regular crisis cycle.

During the economic downturn of 2002, instead of distributing dividends, Joie de Vivre was forced to ask investors to help out the company financially. Rather than approaching investors in a completely solemn manner, Conley explains how approaching his investors with a sense of humor helped in the negotiation and persuasion process.

Larsen and Breyer explain the lessons learned during the bubble. They suggest that it is important to spend frugally and get the maximum value for every dollar spent, regardless of the amount of money present in the bank.

Eisenhardt shares her work on managing at the edge of chaos. She defines the edge of chaos as the perfect balance between being too structured and not having enough structure. In particular, she compares optimal strategies for the highly regulated and structured biotech market and the ambiguous mobile gaming market.

Marissa Mayer, Google's Vice President of Search Products & User Experience, says that when people visit their corporate offices, they feel as if the dotcom bubble never burst. But what differentiates Google from all of the other defunct dotcom's? Profitability. This critical differentiation is the obvious and most basic capability of the company's success.

In product development, Google's Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products & User Experience, believes that a small amount of constraint - whether in file size, pixels, or speed - fosters a lot of innovation. The lesson she shares? Too much creative freedom can make creativity unfocused. A solution with a strict set of barriers yields more concrete solutions.

Thompson stresses the need for customer diversity. Software companies that were dependent on Fortune 1000 companies for their business suffered when their niche clients also suffered in the economic downturn. If a company is to survive challenging economic times, companies must have a diverse customer base, he says. Symantec brings stability to its business by serving individual customers as well as the largest governments and corporations. It brings essential geographic diversity by deriving 51% of its business from outside the US.

Estrin talks about the key things that entrepreneurs can do to adapt to the climate today: 1) Adjust the business model and expenses. 2) Ask yourself, can I afford to run this business at critical mass? 3) Look for areas of incremental growth. 4) Lead with tight execution skills and flexibility.

Surromed has had to adapt its business plan, downsize the company, and pair down numbers of diseases, says Ringold. Things are very different from when they started the company. To be stronger when markets open up and to start a company today, one must build slowly and be flexible, he notes.

Roizen says VCs look at how companies behaved during the downturn. Mobius was upfront with their LPs about where they stood and this paid back. Entrepreneurs that were gracious and upfront will be backed again, she notes.