Commentary: Fort Worth’s economic recovery should emphasize startups and entrepreneurs - fortworthbusiness.com Commentary: Fort Worth’s economic recovery should emphasize startups and entrepreneurs - fortworthbusiness.com Posted: 31 May 2020 03:46 PM PDT Cameron Cushman and Les Kreis More than half of the companies in today's Fortune 500 were started during a recession or a bear market, according to research by the Kauffman Foundation. Locally, American Airlines, Bell, Galderma and Alcon all were started during recessions. Technology companies like Airbnb, Github, Slack, Uber, WhatsApp, Square and Stripe all were started during the recession of 2008-2009. Combined, these seven companies now have a cumulative market capitalization of $153 billion, which is larger than the combined values of Lockheed Martin, Alcon, American Airlines and Bell. For perspective, these companies employ more than 42,000 people, which is similar to the