I am also of the school of economic thought that there are always opportunities in the market. I think it is a compelling argument that there may be even more opportunities in a "down" market.

I am sure the network of people in silicon valley is great. However, I think most people are just out there trying to get a nice 120k job and chill. When vc capital drys up, all of these people are going to leave. The fact remains - many people are up to their eyeballs in debt and they cannot afford to sit around potentially not having a real job. There may be holdouts like yourself who stick around and have money to pay the rent with - but all of the transient 120k people are going to leave.

The gist of what I am saying is that I think you overestimate the cash reserves of the average person. When the jobs leave, the people leave. Simple as that! It doesn't matter if they want to solve problems. They have bills to pay.