It never hurts to be one step ahead of the game.

The last thing that stands between us and the food line is our cash flow, and once that’s at risk, it’ll be like landing in the final circle of doom in Dante’s Inferno (for some).

The company I worked for imploded painfully after 4 waves of lay offs. I stuck with the company till the bitter end, being one of the core managers and early employees of the company, so I had to participate in the layoff process from both sides of the desk.

I had to lay off people in the first 3 waves, and finally, as was expected, I was let go on the last wave as the company itself shut down altogether.

It was definitely a sad and stunning process to live through, especially since it was one place I truly enjoyed working 14 hours a day.

But those are the risks and vagaries of startups. Startups and recessions prove to be a lethal combination, unfortunately: they just don’t mix well.