Or so Michael Arrington writes over at TechCrunch::
Times are good, money is flowing, and Silicon Valley sucks. I don’t know what it is, but the same thing happened in the late
nineties before the bubble burst. Lots of startups got funded that made
no sense but people got excited anyway. A unique, beautiful and well
executed idea was not a story worth talking about until that first
round of big, eye-popping capital. People become more anxious, and more
likely to snap at someone in anger or jealousy. Rumor mongering spikes,
and a crucial balance is lost. It’s no longer about beautiful products
and genius developers. It’s about the money and the status, and hot PR
chicks and marketing departments.
Read the whole thing here. Do you agree?
May 28th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Having ridden the 1994-2001 wave from the very first to the very last, I believe I can say that this one is different. A lot was learned in that last bubble, including the fact that momentum is a great thing to have and money does not cure stupidity. This time around I don’t see as many investments that are as fantastic or silly as the last one. Maybe we are just not there yet. What I do see are a large percentage of new VC’s that are trying to make waves with poor choices and then hype but I think fewer people are buying it. I also see experienced investors holding out for better deals which did not happen so often in the previous event.
I’m not sure their will be a downturn like we saw in 2000 but I do think the amateur hour is almost up. There are some really great new businesses growing. It would be a shame to undermine their efforts simply because there are investors who have money to burn and who want to burn it rather than working to find it a good home.
Let’s hope that this wave is a long roller rather than a high crest that crashes quickly.
May 30th, 2007 at 12:36 am
NerdRoom@WAKEUP.com
Many Nerds won’t be returning. Some old timers I remember from last year, people like Trenchcoat Mafia, Silk Dragon Shirt, probably won’t be coming back next year.
Spamming blogs I put their names up, immortalizing them, if only until the blog owner erases everything::::
1. Trenchcoat Mafia
2. Silk Dragon Shirt
3. The Distinguished English Gentleman
4. Beta Nerd, and of course
5. Rosie The Transsexual
Rosie’s original name was just Rosie, due to his rosie cheeks. They shared he has a high level of knowledge, a tactic the gods employ to create a false sense of security. This of course is the segment which they dump so many transsexuals into.
I too enjoy irony, and therefore Rosie has now become Rosie The Transsexual.
Who else has a nickname in the NerdRoom?
I’d like to remind you many of the people in the NerdRoom are good men. I hope this is reflected in what they are allowed to learn and the progress they’re allowed to make.
I’d also like to remind you their predecessors, REAL nerds from a generation ago who fill the computer swap meet, are WONDERFUL men, and since I likely won’t be going again I want to remember them as well.
Actually the comparison of the two is a testiment to the devolution of society, which will be used as justification for the Apocalypse:::
Today’s nerds are NOT wonderful men. They grew up with the internet and many consider pornography as an acceptable vice. They gamble freely, enjoy evil imagry in video games, and this issue is a microcosim of our deterioration.
June 26th, 2007 at 2:50 am
Silicon Valley is paradise for geeks, and people flock here from all over the world to be part of something very special.