Sequoia Capital, arguably the smartest venture capital investor in business, is sounding the alarm and asking its portfolio companies to buckle down for what could be the worst economic downturn of their relatively short lives.

The fund organized a meeting yesterday where it invited entreprenuers/CEOs from its portfolio companies. The attendees were greeted by a cute image of a Grave Stone, with a message: R.I.P.: Good Times, my sources tell me. I was able to confirm this with at least two sources and I am currently trying to nail down more details.

The gathering was addressed by at least four speakers, including a brief introduction by Mike Mortiz. Doug Leone was another speaker. I am still trying to nail down more details of the two other speakers. The message delivered to those in attendance was that things could get a lot worse than people think, and it will be a “more protracted downturn.”

They want the companies to cut costs, to figure out way to survive and emerge at the other end of this downturn, which could last years. The speakers went through each