What about a tip to wait a year so you can raise money when the economy rebounds?
From what I've been reading recently, the startups the recession will hurt most will be those that have weak plans to monetize. That is encouraging because it will force startups to consider their path to profitability more carefully and hopefully result in companies that are more successful long-term. Which will ultimately benefit everyone else as well.
jack - I think the recession is a great time to start. Get started now. The most successful web 2.0 era folks started after the nuclear winter of the dot.com