ANTenna Blog -- Business & E-Business

For the past 20 years, it was behemoth companies like Enron, AIG, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers that commanded the most respect, especially from Wall Street. These brands were so revered that Americans entrusted their life savings through their IRAs and 401Ks to ensure a comfy retirement.

With such leviathans dominating the financial landscape, there wasn't much opportunity for small startups to gain traction. Remember, every great company in American history started as a small company, often in the midst of a great economic downturn. The Coors Brewing Company opened its doors at the beginning of the Long Depression of the 1800s, while IBM got its start at the tail end. UPS hit the ground running in Seattle during the Panic of 1907, Hewlett-Packard was conceived in a Palo Alto garage near the end of the Great Depression, and the Super 8 hotel chain opened its doors during the oil crisis of the early '70s. The History Channel could fill an entire series based on companies that snubbed popular economic wisdom and made a go of it during financial crises.

For the first time in recent history, small businesses are on nearly equal footing with corporate giants and may be more capable of survival without the onerous overhead and debt of the big guys.