Friday, October 10, 2008

Sequoia Sounds the Alarm

It's been all over the blogosphere this morning (GigaOm, Om again, Bear, Alley): Sequoia Capital is worried. They have given advice to all their portfolio companies. Here's some of it:

  • The Good Times are Over!
  • Cut spending. Cut fat. Preserve capital.
  • Focus on quality.
  • Reduce risk.
  • Make sure you have one year's worth of cash.
  • If you have a product, reduce expenses around it and boost sales. If the product is ready, cut the number of engineers.
  • Be brutal when it comes to marketing -- anything that isn't working, cut it.
  • Don't burn through your cash, for cash is king.
  • Cut base salaries on sales people and leverage them with upside.
  • Most importantly, be true to yourself.

It means that you have to be lean and focused to get through the next 2 years. Get started now!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I hate to say it... but "no shit". Doesn't take a genius to see that the market is tanking, and that easy capital is going to be hard to come by.