Before you plunge into startup life, make sure your industry is not on the way out.

You want to pick a rising tide, not a sinking island.

Take the news industry as an example. It doesn’t matter how successful your startup is, it will fail because the news industry is shrinking. Fast.

The strongest building in the world will not not withstand being washed away when the news island has been submerged.

Another island that is sinking is, “voice”. Voice has historically been enormously profitable, but with the increasing ubiquity of data and Skype and WhatsApp calls, traditional voice revenues have plateaued.

They only have one way to go.

Down.

Don’t build a startup on the voice industry.

Steer clear of sinking islands.