At a recent a16z Summit, D'Arcy Coolican of Andreessen Horowitz insightfully expanded on the simple-but-crucial element of market timing for a startup by examining the concepts of societal "zeitgeists". If a startup is addressing one or more core issues within a current zeitgeist, they greatly increase the chance of survival because the solution doesn't have to be perfect out of the gate - the zeitgeist wants it solved so badly that society almost wills success and grants patience. Good stuff. Take a listen.