The late '90s version was much more disorganized and not quite as embedded in institutions (pension funds, governments, etc.) as the current version is. But it

The late '90s version was much more disorganized and not quite as embedded in institutions (pension funds, governments, etc.) as the current version is. But it was a more "public" bubble in a way, more successful in pulling in money from regular people. There were VCs out there hyping companies, but there wasn't the huge infrastructure of media-savvy venture funds, incubators, startup schools, consultants charging startups money to help get them into an incubator, etc. And they weren't as successful in getting governments and universities on board the startup hype train with all the Innovation Initiatives you see now. But what they did have going for them was a gold-rush feeling that everything was novel: "X but on the internet" was itself almost enough to sell. And the emergence of online brokers (e.g. E-Trade) as part of the same bubble brought an influx of new retail investor money, as your uncle who just heard about the internet started lining up to buy into tech IPOs.