Ticketing site Seatwave will survive this year because people will still need to spend their money on entertainment, says founder and chief executive Joe Cohen.
Joe Cohen. Photograph: Library House/Flickr/All rights reserved
"2009 looks to be a mixed year in many ways.
"Retail consumerism has become habitual over the past ten years so I don't see that evaporating overnight, but the effects are already seen in the holiday season - price shopping and buying fewer, more significant items. We plan to make sure all our customers have a great experience as word of mouth and referrals have the opportuity to make or break businesses in a down cycle.
"Many investors are hammering companies to cut burn and run at bare minimum Opex levels. That's a trap. You may survive but you won't have a business that's worth much on the other side.
"We think three things will matter next year. One - making sure we are always thinking from our customers' point of view. Two, we will continue to grind publishers for rock bottom media pricing (remember how they did it to you when things were hot?). And three - great execution will go from delivering arithmetic to geometric value creation.
"I am an optimist generally because as a species we tend to spend the money we have. It may end up we don't have any and that's a real big problem but until then there are still plenty of opportunities."
