THE UP SIDE OF THE DOWN SIDE

This chart from the US Department of Labor shows the relationship among unemployment (grey dots), recession (pink bars) and notable moments of innovation (orange bubbles and green dots)

Recession and high periods of unemployment coincide with corporations battening down the hatches and focusing on their 'core' products and services today, leaving those unemployed or 'redundant' to build tomorrow. Hence, high periods of entrepreneurship in recession.

LA TIMES BLOG-TWITTER ORIGINS + INTERVIEW

The Origins of Twitter

The image on the left, found on flickr is the original concept sketch for twitter. Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone, founders, were inspired to create Twitter after observing traffic patterns and related noise patterns between passing vehicles, cars, and bikes zooming around cities. 

More on their origins in this interesting blog article from the LA Times