[_ah]

It will be GREAT.

Ok, maybe an overstatement. Fewer companies will be funded, many many will die. The market will viciously slaughter any weak business plans. But the few that survive will THRIVE. With brutal market pressure, only the best ideas will move forward... there will be a complete inability to hide from the reality of bad plans or execution. High quality employees will be more willing to join for less salary, extending runway. When the economy recovers, those scrappy survivors will already have market share and will be in the best possible to ride the wave upward to absolute dominance.

Seriously, if you want to join a startup, definitely consider looking for companies that seem to be doing well (or even doing pretty-much-ok) in the depths of the recession.