Tip of the WeeK: Spot the New Wave and Plan to Ride it

In this kind of economic situation, you need all the resources you can get to get all the capital you need.

One resource is spotting a new wave so you can ride its economic energy instead of paddling hard using more of your startup's scarce energy.

For instance, a new wave is forming that is all about organizing a web user's social information into a portable collection that can be easily moved between social networking sites and between proprietary clouds.

And example of paddling on your own is building an improved search engine.

The portable social information wave is just starting, is potentially huge and has room for lots of innovation and competitors. So start here.

The search engine improvement is competitively like shooting a bullet against a tank. Google has won. The battle is over. So move on.

Asian startups in the latest wave have shown solid signs of innovation that is creating new waves. Learn more by studying Netease and Shanda, and their competitors.

Here is another tip: Is your idea about doing something not done before? If so, you'll be able to ride a new wave.

BOTTOM LINE: Think about your idea. Is it going to benefit from the rising energy of the new wave? Or is it an improvement of a wave that has already arrived at the beach? When you know which to pursue, you'll have a powerful element to use to build your unfair competitive advantage.