It's an incredible time to be an entrepreneur

In the midst of our little financial crisis, it never ceases to amaze me the companies that have continued to thrive. Here's a tidbit of SurveyMonkey - something I remember first using in university and a company that has kept a pretty low profile (and maybe this is why) - from TechCrunch:

They never raised outside funding and grew the business to a rumored $30 million in revenue in 2008, with 85% EBITDA margins. This year revenue will be more like $45 million, we’ve heard (the company won’t comment).

The leverage of the internet and the ability to reach across borders and thousands of miles at a cost of less than a penny is unprecedented. As the Guardian notes, "startups are able to run leaner and meaner" against their often better funded counterparts. It's also not the college students who are succeeding - according to Vivek Wadhwa, "old guys rule" (TechCrunch):

I’ve got a message for all the Silicon Valley venture capitalists who think a CEO is over the hill after age 40. Old guys rule. And they are far more likely to be the founder of a successful technology company than most of you understand. How do I know this? Research that my team conducted, based on a survey of 549 entrepreneurs in high-growth industries, showed that the average founder of a high-growth company launched his venture at age 40. We also learned that these founders are likely to be married and have two or more kids. They typically have six to ten years of work experience and real-world ideas. They simply got tired of working for others and wanted to rise above their middle-class heritage.

So where to start? If I may be so bold, have a look at the compendium of links that I've been saving up and updating and also my latest book summary (though I'm planning on reorganizing and rewriting it).