or perhaps I should entitle this post "There is a God".

I've caught up with a lot of old friends/former colleagues over the holidays.  When I tell them that I'm getting a company started, they say things like

"wow, this is a really bad time"

or

"do you think you made a mistake leaving your great gig at Microsoft last year?"

Sure, having stable income is preferable in tough times like these.  But in my experience, and the experiences of others (and others), there isn't a better time to get a company off the ground.  I won't restate the reasons mentioned in the articles I've linked… but I would add that there are a lot of advantages to developing products/services when money is relatively tight.  It gets you focused on what really matters and helps you do so on a shoestring budget.  If you really are on to something, you'll get customers and investor attention regardless of the macroeconomic environment.  But perhaps most importantly, if you make progress, your business will be well positioned to take advantage of better times.  No matter how bad things seem right now, the economy *will* improve… and you're better off with a validated product in hand.

So if you have a good idea or if you've just unexpectedly lost your job, don't fret.  Go for it.  There likely won't be a better time to get a business started for a long time.