Sequoia started a meeting yesterday with – no joke – an image of a gravestone and the phrase "R.I.P.: Good Times," according to Om Malik.  Malik reports, "The message delivered to those in attendance was that things could get a lot worse than people think, and it will be a more protracted downturn.  To give a historical perspective, Sequoia had a similar meeting back before the last bubble unraveled.  We know how that turned out."

 Ron Conway

As for Conway, he sent a note to the CEOs of his portfolio companies, and actually included the text of two emails from 2000.  Quite a few executives’ assistants were probably sent out to acquire antacids as a result.

Anyway, the main points made by Sequoia and Conway were that companies should focus on survival more than anything.  Sequoia alluded to a years-long slump.  Conway talked in terms of months, but specifically mentioned the drastic step of employee layoffs as a way of reducing expenses.

The odds of both Sequoia and Conway being off base are pretty slim, and even if they made a mistake, there are such things as self-fulfilling prophecies.  Companies that haven’t done so already should probably get to work on their economic collapse plans.