There’s plenty evidence to suggest that several start ups are born out of recessions – for example, ~2009 saw Uber, Airbnb, WhatsApp Inc. and Slack emerge from the Great Recession. However, the current situation is especially exciting for #entrepreneurship compared to previous recessions.
‘Quarantine is the mother of innovation’ (WSJ 10-point). The pandemic has provided future entrepreneurs with 2 things they arguably need the most – a host of new problems and global challenges to provide solutions for, and time. The current crisis is obviously going to result in a new normal with developments such as WFH, telehealth, and new sources of gaming/entertainment. But more importantly, the fact that people are being forced to stay home from work and other activities, and have more flexible and open schedules as a result has given entrepreneurs what they crave for the most – time to get creative and develop their ideas.
These three factors together create an incredibly exciting time to be in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Within my current network itself, I see a lot of friends working on new, innovative start up ideas. I’m excited to see what comes out of this!