Description:

Investors/VCs are currently very prudent and conservative with their investments (due to financial crisis, own issues, etc), therefore it is crucial for many start-ups, especially those that are very early-stage and that don't have a proven business model yet, to survive this year and continue build their business. In the last 6-9 months, many VCs have slowed down their investment pace and are focusing more & more on "proven" mid/late-stage companies, which means that few deals are getting done in the early-stage phase. Young start-ups not only need to somehow survive 2009 but will have to work hard on defining their value-add (vis-à-vis consumers or businesses), building a scalable business model and quickly find an acceptable cost/revenue balance. The days of extremely high burn rates are over.

Moderated by Robert Lang, result