Intellectual property, marketing, and life sciences research are not getting cheaper. So Dave's statement "The cost of starting a company today is far less today...." cannot be applied to all startups. Dave went on to give several examples of how things are cheaper now, but they were all software development and administration software examples.

It is unfortunate that Frank's comments imply that the lack of operating capital is the source of the required discipline to pay attention to the market, including stating that he also didn't like always paying attention to his market in his business, but because he was bootstrapping he had to do it. Angels often talk about how they invest in people and not ideas. So why not seek people who actually care about the market and the exit, and don't have to be coerced into paying attention to them?

I would guess that when Frank started his bootstrapped company, he did not originally envision selling it for as much as he did. If so, he would have been more motivated to pay attention to his customers.

A disciplined Entrepreneur with excess capital is not going to spend it on trying to do more than is necessary, because he understands saving for a rainy day and saving for better and faster sales efforts that will bring the exit much more quickly. The undisciplined Entrepreneur who takes on too many projects, or projects that are too wide in scope wants to be entertained when he goes to work, and is acting like the undisciplined Angels and VCs who want to be entertained by the fast pitch. The undisciplined Entrepreneur is following the lead of his undisciplined investor board members who want him to put on an entertaining show during investment pitches.

Dave said "It is not about capturing share today from others, it's about developing wonderful products that the market will want and ask for when the economic environment improves." It's a pity that he threw in those last five words of "when the economic environment improves."

Money managers always rely on such disclaimers to explain why investments went bad, but those last five words is not the proper way to choose an investment. As a member in a VC firm with a focus on communication, Dave should know that the smartphone market continues to grow even during this worldwide recession, and that the consumers of smartphones continue to have painful needs that are not being met. The recession has made those unsatisfied needs even more painful to smartphone consumers.

I have solved what some say to be currently the biggest problem/pain of smartphone consumers, who are currently this huge growing market. I haven't found a bigger market for venture investors to invest in. I'm just looking for the right investors. I make it possible for one hand to create and edit content on a smartphone just as fast as two hands on a full size keyboard and mouse, without using a table, chair, lap, voice, or predictive software.

This idea that Dave is promoting of waiting for the economic environment to improve is nonsense. One can always find a growing market with needs being left unsatisfied. Even during the great depression, one would have gotten rich if they had put all their money in steel and Coca-Cola.

One would need a very long runway in order to follow Dave's advice of developing wonderful products that the market will not want and ask for until the economic environment improves.