startups during bad economic conditions ..

only those tend to survive that have a proven business model. a set of startups that I believe do not have a proven model are the public wifi and even wimax companies. this does mean that the technology is flawed and nor am I questioning the technical soundness of these technologies; I think that they have not been able to find a market that is ready to consistently pay for their products or services. examples of such startups are tropos, meraki, firetide, and now wichorus. most of these startups have spent years developing their technology, blowing through (hundreds of) millions of dollars of cash without really proving that they can eventually make any money for themselves. what is it that these companies can do to turn the tide? and do that quickly before the auto makers (and whoever else is on their way into bankruptcy) swallow all the tax money that they were expecting to come their way?