Top Stories for the Week of October 27 - 31, 2008

The economic downturn now is inspiring Silicon valley business conferences, whatever that indicates. VentureBeat's conference this week in Menlo Park--How to Manage Your Startup in the Downturn--was packed. The major message: "act responsibly [aka stop spending investor cash so fast], but don't panic." Yes, it's time to "batten down the hatches," summarizes a TechCrunch dispatch from the glumfest, but "it's cheaper than ever to run a startup and innovation will continue to thrive." Viva la mixed message! Venture capitalist John Doerr, who held his head in his hands for much of the "downturn" panel discusssion, (reports Epicenter) offered a list of 10 ways to stay afloat, with some mixed messages of his own, like "act now" and "defer facility expansions." A VC goes all quadrant-y with a four-square matrix showing what kinds of companies can survive today ("the comfort zone is a low burn rate and long runway") and which are blowing in the wind ("betting on revenue").

There's much fear and nausea out there, though in the big picture the injuries this week weren't planet-shaking: Time Inc. is cutting 600 jobs, but killing no magazines, says Paidcontent, which is "surprised to see Entertainment Weekly surviving this." Online TV startup Revision3 is circling the drain with layoffs and cancellations, says NewTeeVee. That's terrible news for indie video makers, whose low paying deals can vaporize overnight, says Kent Nichols. Jim Cramer-fronted stockfan site The Street has more eyeballs but posted a surprise loss due to weakened ad revenue, reports Silicon Alley Insider. Even Google has cut back perks at its New York office, says Valleywag. No surprise, a new blog/site called f***dstartups.com has launched (and has immediately been offered for sale). And the founder of a company that helps to shutter failed companies tells PEHub that business is more than booming: "It's a tsunami."

"The bomb-shelter mentality among startups is now so severe that even companies raising money are announcing layoffs," notes Techcrunch (Helium just raised $30 million and laid off 18 people). But Valleywag suggests some startups are using the "downturn" to enact layoffs as "a convenient excuse to cover their mistakes." Still, longtime tech seer George Colony at Counterintuitive is optimistic this tech recession will be different because technology is now pervasive in everyday life.

Elsewhere, few breaths are being held over Windows 7, which Microsoft just sneak-peeked. Andrew Sullivan's "Why I Blog" piece for The Atlantic has bloggers linking away, though without a lot of commentary. MTV and Harmonix--makers of the Rock Band video games--will get access to the Beatles catalog. It won't be Rock Band sequel--"we're expecting a Yellow Submarine type experience," forecasts PS3 Fanboy. The announcement this Thursday has an "unprecedented number of Beatles puns," says Digital Daily.

In sports, of course, the Phillies won the World Series, for their second time ever, and long-suffering fans celebrated in style, never mind the economy--"because nothing says World Series champions like overturned cars," notes a Blog for All.