You would be better served asking "what did it look like in the crash of 2000". Today twitter, etsy, hell even zynga are looking a LOT like the bubble companie

You would be better served asking "what did it look like in the crash of 2000". Today twitter, etsy, hell even zynga are looking a LOT like the bubble companies, the fact that pets.com sock puppet could be a product on etsy today should not be lost on you (or any one for that matter). In 2000 the questions were "do you know html, and can you fog a mirror" today we would ask "have you been through boot camp and can you fog a mirror". IN 2000 we had lavish launch parties, today we have free lunches (if that isn't telling). In 2000 you bled money to SUN to have servers, today you bleed money to a landlord for office space. Back then VC's were handing out money to any one with an idea, today they are pretty much handing out money to any one with an idea. Honestly, 2000 was a complete shit show. Most people checked fuckedcompnay in the morning to find out if they were going to get laid off. Some showed up to work and were "locked out". The market tore up any maginal company that was listed and the money flowing into the valley STOPPED. If you weren't profitable, if you could not control your burn rate, you were dead. How did we (developers) survive 2000? A lot of folks didn't. If you were here, and you managed to stay, it was because you wanted to be here, because you had some passion for what you were doing, and were willing to eat shit for it. A lot of folks who made it through 2000 were the same ones who endured the smaller wind down of 2008. In 2008 people who were good knew each other, we had networked by then, and a job was just a "phone call away". What you probably want to know is how do you survive the coming storm? The reality is that you probably don't/won't. A lot of folks I know who survived 2000 built war chests, we have "fuck you" money, and a network. We aren't paying $3000 or $4000 a month for rent. Even if your splitting that 2 or 3 ways what happens to YOU when you have to eat that cost cause your "housemate" bails cause he's unemployed and has ZERO prospects after 3 months? The reality is that it will be more of an enema of mediocre talent and companies, rents will go down, engineering costs will go down, and a few years later money will flow back in for us to start the cycle all over again.