Businessweek: Ballmer Says Venture Freeze Will Spare Startups in Key Fields

"The pullback in business spending and venture capital investing will winnow the field of startups, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in an May 6 speech at Stanford University. But “there’s really not a better time to start a business” in industries dependent on new technology, including energy production, environmental science, and computer interfaces, he said.

“There’s still, in my opinion, more venture capital than there are good ideas to support the venture capital,” Ballmer said in a speech to Stanford students studying entrepreneurship as part of the school’s “Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders” series. As the worldwide economy contracts, fewer mediocre business ideas will get funded, he said. That will result in a healthier startup environment than exists now, when “too many companies can hang on for almost too long with too much money.”