I recently caught up with Steven Elefant, a partner at Soaring Venture and an angel investor, at the Keiretsu holiday party recently. The interview sheds light on the investor mindset these days. It's no surprise that he predicts a challenging year coupled with long recovery.

Elefant thinks the economy will turn a corner in 2010, given than this time a recovery will take a lot longer than the bubble-driven crash of 2000.

The good news is that it's been a lot cheaper to build a business given the breakthroughs in technology and infrastructure hosting. His tips to entrepreneurs are to focus on their core business, and get back to basics to build a business. On the positive side, he does believe that there are tremendous opportunities for entrepreneurs that innovate. The FUD principle of Fear, Uncertainity and Doubt is not good for the economy but great for entrepreneurs! 

So, all you entrepreneurs should ponder on the new "FUD" environment and determine relevant strategic implications for your business. As Nat Goldhaber said, "It's time for billionaire to be born!"