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Even though it's been a rough year, don't forget to count your blessings.

In Pictures: 13 Things Entrepreneurs Can Be Thankful For

Watching thousands of people lose their jobs, stock portfolios take mortal beatings and hordes of regulators (many of whom helped get us into this mess) run around like headless chickens is enough to bring on more than a little despair.

But tough as things are out there, entrepreneurs have plenty of reasons to give thanks, too--even if it really doesn't feel that way right now.

One ray of hope: Promising start-ups are still finding funding. While foreseeable exits are few, venture capitalists have put only slightly fewer dollars at stake as they did this time last year, before the financial crisis had gained any traction.

In the three quarters ended Sept. 30, venture-capital investment was down just 4%, to $22.3 billion, versus the same period in 2007, according to VentureOne, an industry tracker. For a glimpse at 11 hot spots of activity--including energy, computing and entertainment--check out "Where Venture Capital Is Still Flowing."

In Pictures: 13 Things Entrepreneurs Can Be Thankful For

There are perhaps a trillion (and growing) reasons to thank Uncle Sam these days, thanks to all that bailout money. Part of Barack Obama's plan includes a "national infrastructure reinvestment bank." Although traditional banks are garnering most of the attention at the moment, look for the president-elect to make good on his promise to give the country's ailing infrastructure--and all the small companies that attend to it--a serious shot in the arm. Such a prescription could ring up a $60 billion tab. Who knows: Bridge-building could be the next decade's Internet boom.