Calacanis: Collapsing Economy Will Kill 50%-80% Of Startups

The following is reprinted from Jason’s List, Jason Calacanis’s email newsletter. Sign up here. (The) Startup Depression
.Since stock market gyrations and the elections seem to be making everyone rightfully nauseous and depressed, I thought I would take this email to discuss the biggest ramifications of these challenging times: depression.



It’s my believe that the economic downturn will be much worse than it is today, and that 50-80% of the venture-backed startups currently operating will shut down or go on life-support (i.e. 3-4 folks working on them) within the next 18 months.

Make a list of every Web 2.0 startup to raise an A or B round and cross 80% of them off the list, because they will not make it to their next round of funding or profitability.

Now, I could be totally wrong. No one can guess or time the markets perfectly. However, planning for the worst is a virtuous idea, so I encourage you to read on.