This blog post appearing on TechCrunch over the weekend is a must read for everyone who has been panicked by reading the news (which is probably 100% of the population). It makes the point that we have been making to anyone who will listen now for several months: don’t look back, look ahead, this is a time for growth, opportunity and leadership – do not retreat or surrender. We view these times as opportunities for focus or what we call the implementation of pragmatic innovation. Gone are the days when projects that deliver revenue “at some point” is good enough, the litmus test today is how much impact an initiative will have on revenue in 2009.

There is no getting around the fact that times are tough. Every single company – large and small – is cutting back on expenses. Some have had to cut thousands of jobs and those who haven’t will likely do so soon. Sure, its scary and for many of the Gen X and Y-ers an environment that they have never ever seen or experienced. But as this article points out, fear is not a catalyst to productivity. Despite these difficult times, companies still have to serve clients, sell their products and services and keep the lights on. Customers still want those services although their decisions are more cautious and take longer to make. This article warns us all that fear paralyzes and contributes to the death spiral that is all too known to businesses that serve as platforms that enable multiple customers to interact. We can observe how fear is accelerating the demise of the newspaper industry. Cutbacks on expenses that help create good content, like reporters, results in papers no one wants to read and no advertisers finds attractive. And, if we are not careful, this same sort of thinking will drive other businesses to what TechCrunch calls the DeadPool.

2009 need not be the year of dread. We think it is the year to make lemonade out of the lemons handed to us by the global markets and the world economy. For every business that is tempted to sit on the sidelines and wait this one out, there will be dozens, who are ready to step in to fill the void. 2009 is the year to focus and make disciplined decisions. We at MPD are approaching the year with a renewed sense of optimism that good businesses will continue to create great value to customers. If ever there was a poster child for this, look at the acquisition of Bill Me Later by eBay – in September 2008 on the day that Lehman imploded and the market suffered just over a 500 point loss. We are inspired by the “I’ve never met a challenge I couldn’t handle” spirit of entrepreneurs in whom we see great drive and determination to succeed. We are encouraged by the spirit of established businesses, some of them a little worse for wear, who are soldiering on with programs that deliver value and bravely (but cautiously) proceeding with new initiatives that will set them apart.

We aren’t in the business of predictions, but we’ll go out on a limb this time. We predict that 2009 will foster the kind of sustainable innovation in payments, mobile and digital media that we haven’t seen in a long while. The need to focus revenue now will dampen the noise that has gotten in the way of measurable progress. We hope we’re right.