These are tough days for entrepreneurs seeking new cash, and even for venture capital firms that may be forced to conduct triage on existing portfolios. Still, now may be just the moment to turn a great idea into a lasting enterprise. That was the take, anyway, of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs who gathered in Silicon Valley earlier this year to talk about why recessions are the best times to launch companies and topple old orders.

Steve Jurvetson, managing director of the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Dave Goldberg, former manager of Yahoo Music and entrepreneur-in-residence at Benchmark Capital, explained that while a world of failing corporate titans and changing government policy is chaotic, chaos creates opportunity and leaner times bring focus. Jurvetson and Goldberg were joined by three entrepreneurs who described their travails and coping strategies in their recently launched ventures.