That phrase is usually "out of the frying pan and into the fire" — from a bad situation into something equally bad. (The expression is older than friers.) "Li

That phrase is usually "out of the frying pan and into the fire" — from a bad situation into something equally bad. (The expression is older than friers.) "Like rats fleeing a sinking ship" refers to the expected imminent failure of the ship, which the rats could (supposedly) sense. (Or maybe there was water in the bottom already.) In this case, it's predicting the failure of Silicon Valley (or the USA, etc).