VC investments and the financial crazyness

During the Venture Camp we have touched several times on whether or not you gonna be nuts to start a new venture in such an incredibly unstable financial situation.
I've heard during some of the presentations and during the various networking sessions (never too many...) people confronting opposite points of view.

The same day we started our forum, Sequoia flooded all startups and relevant investors with their famous Presentation , portraying an apocalyptic view of the world of startups in the next years to come.

I have the impression that, yes, we are facing tougher times in front of us (what the heck, if even Google is being cutting on extra-free-food...).
However Scarcity is the best status to spur Innovation. From scarcity it comes clarity.
How about seeing these funky times as a real opportunity for the best ideas that solve real, tangible problems, to emerge?

On the other side, I was reading the recent statistics of the performance of PEPI (table).
Indeed, the numbers look scary, considering they do not include the last few week earthquakes.
Still, the best long term (10Y) returns from all different investment scenarios, are coming from Early stage investments in startups.
Ergo, it's time to dump your stock and make your mattress thinner... and invest in your friend startup (the smart one, though).