Given the recent economic meltdown, I have had many people (from friends & family to former work colleagues and even strangers) say to me:

“Ah, you started your own company…hmmm….tough time to be at a new startup”.

My early reactions to this statement were to shrug my shoulders, grit my teeth and think to myself – “man, you need to really crush this thing and make Wahanda work!”  I was trading stories with my business partner Lopo last week when he told me that he had a similar conversation the previous evening with an ex-Yahoo! colleague of mine.  Lopo’s wife Sandrine was also party to the conversation, and her reaction after hearing the ex-Yahoo! colleague of mine say the infamous line (“yeah, tough time to be at a startup”), later on privately said to Lopo – “Actually, isn’t it a tougher time to be at Yahoo!?”

Sandrine’s comment firstly made me smile, and then totally put things into focus – having left Yahoo! Search Europe in March 2008, I started Wahanda with Lopo to not only capitalise on what we think is a great idea and an underserved opportunity, but also to control our own destiny and create a company where we wanted to work.  My final two years at Yahoo! were marred with downsizings, cost-cutting, rumours, management departures, poor communication from senior execs, bad hires and questionable executive decisions.  Given that Y! is now undergoing another round of layoffs and uncertainty about its future, and given that Wahanda has started gaining traction and is in a good position funding-wise, when now confronted with the infamous line above, I actually confidently respond, “Actually, its a fantastic time to be at Wahanda!”.  I am surprised it wasn’t something that occurred to me before, but thank you Sandrine!

When is the best time to start a company? (click to read my next post)