7 ms·

Yeah...I see what just happened...we are back in 1999. Enjoy it while it lasts.

joeguilmette 15y ago
it's not entirely the same. while there are echoes, the few companies that are hitting the open market via IPO are not getting massively inflated stock prices. it'll be interesting to see how this little bubble bursts.
- canterburry 15y ago
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuAJHaXKgFk&feature=colike http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuAJHaXKgFk&feature=colik...
  - corford 15y ago
    :) liked it. Although, here we are 5 years later and no bust yet...
  - kshitizanand 15y ago
    Funny!!
tptacek 15y ago
FIRST POST!
- cperciva 15y ago
  2012 is the year of Linux on the desktop!
  - justauser 15y ago
    What's the keyword for this article on AOL?
  - ktsmith 15y ago
    Netcraft now confirms: BSD is dying.
  - saryant 15y ago
    I suppose we all ought to move back to Slashdot now.
- daeken 15y ago
  I, for one, welcome our new entrepreneur overlords.
- corford 15y ago
  In Soviet Russia, pendulum swings you.
  - PerryCox 15y ago
    Dear God am I on fucking reddit? I'm all for a little joking but this is ridiculous and adds nothing to the conversation.
    - tptacek 15y ago
      So do the "it's bubblicious!" comments this thread is responding to.
    - corford 15y ago
      no love for slashdot memes then...
Alex3917 15y ago
This time the money is mostly coming from wealthy individuals. While some of these folks have certainly shown regrettable judgment, this is completely different than in 1999 when literally billions of dollars were flowing from institutional investors and the general public. If this trend continues for another 5 - 7 years then we may get back to where we were in 1999, but I don't think we're anywhere near there yet.
- bentlegen 15y ago
  That's changing, and fast. In Canada, pensions and retirement funds are getting involved in the startup funding game - and that's up north where funding is dry to begin with. I'm sure the same is happening here. Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/29/vancouvers-hootsuite-gets-20m-omers-ventures-push/ http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/29/vancouvers-hoot... "OMERS Ventures, a $180-million fund established by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System last fall, said Thursday it has picked HootSuite Media Inc. as its first major funding recipient."
  - swalberg 15y ago
    Many pension funds have had some sort of high risk component to their portfolio. http://www.cppib.ca/News_Room/News_Releases/nr_02031001.html http://www.cppib.ca/News_Room/News_Releases/nr_02031001.html talks about the CPP's, which has been going on since 2005. I'd suspect we're only starting to hear about it because it's getting into our space. Disclaimer - I work for one of OMERS other (earlier) investments. I guess we're just not "major" :P
- spullara 15y ago
  The JOBS act is going to let companies like these raise money on the internet from just about anyone.
  - tptacek 15y ago
    Yes, but at much lower levels. That's a valid concern with the JOBS crowdfunding provisions, though.
motti_s 15y ago
I don't think you can compare what we see now to the bubble days. Let's look at some key differences: - In the 90s there were 50 million internet users, now there are over 2 billion. The internet economy is huge. - It's becoming easier to get seed funding, but it hasn't become any easier to raise series A (some claim it's becoming harder due to the increased number of seed companies chasing those series A dollars). In the bubble days the madness went all the way to the IPO. - When the bubble burst, people lost faith in the future of technology, or at least in the rate at which it would advance. Now that phones have become computers, books have been digitized, and people rely on technology for every aspects of their lives (even to socialize!), it's pretty obvious that technology is here to stay. For sure we may see a down-swing. If macro economics go in shambles due a new war or an economic meltdown in Europe, then technology investment will suffer as well. But as opposed to the bubble days, I don't think technology investment will be the cause for such a down-swing. I think we have matured since the bubble and the fact that it was so traumatic (we're still discussing it aren't we?) also helps preventing it from re-occurring.
- MrMan 15y ago
  One of the reasons it is different this time, but still a bubble, is that there is tons of cheap money flowing around the globe, and sophisticated investors are desperately looking for returns. Hedge funds have had big outflows in the last 3 years. That (risk-seeking)money has to slosh somewhere. The total size of the hedge fund world is larger than in 1999-2000. Also, the concentration of advertising dollars that flows through a few key companies - Facebook, Google, Microsoft, etc., is significant. Ad spending basically drives this whole thing from the revenue side. In 1999 there was less of this money in absolute terms and also the ad and marketing folks had not yet learned how to target ads to users online. So ads + Quantitative Easing (hope I am not getting too fast and loose here but this is shorthand) means that worthless companies like Instagram can seem strategic to ad delivery platforms like Facebook. And there is so much extra risk capital chasing deals that $1B is nothing to throw away. PG has been in the right place at the right time, but just because he and his partners do things differently in their business does not mean that the macro picture is not the most important factor. edit - we have not matured we have just gotten better at online advertising and marketing. But that is arguably a great efficiency for the post-industrial service economy.

it's not entirely the same. while there are echoes, the few companies that are hitting the open market via IPO are not getting massively inflated stock prices. it'll be interesting to see how this little bubble bursts.

canterburry 15y ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuAJHaXKgFk&feature=colike http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuAJHaXKgFk&feature=colik...
- corford 15y ago
  :) liked it. Although, here we are 5 years later and no bust yet...
- kshitizanand 15y ago
  Funny!!

tptacek 15y ago

FIRST POST!

cperciva 15y ago
2012 is the year of Linux on the desktop!
- justauser 15y ago
  What's the keyword for this article on AOL?
- ktsmith 15y ago
  Netcraft now confirms: BSD is dying.
- saryant 15y ago
  I suppose we all ought to move back to Slashdot now.
daeken 15y ago
I, for one, welcome our new entrepreneur overlords.
corford 15y ago
In Soviet Russia, pendulum swings you.
- PerryCox 15y ago
  Dear God am I on fucking reddit? I'm all for a little joking but this is ridiculous and adds nothing to the conversation.
  - tptacek 15y ago
    So do the "it's bubblicious!" comments this thread is responding to.
  - corford 15y ago
    no love for slashdot memes then...

Alex3917 15y ago

This time the money is mostly coming from wealthy individuals. While some of these folks have certainly shown regrettable judgment, this is completely different than in 1999 when literally billions of dollars were flowing from institutional investors and the general public. If this trend continues for another 5 - 7 years then we may get back to where we were in 1999, but I don't think we're anywhere near there yet.

bentlegen 15y ago
That's changing, and fast. In Canada, pensions and retirement funds are getting involved in the startup funding game - and that's up north where funding is dry to begin with. I'm sure the same is happening here. Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/29/vancouvers-hootsuite-gets-20m-omers-ventures-push/ http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/29/vancouvers-hoot... "OMERS Ventures, a $180-million fund established by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System last fall, said Thursday it has picked HootSuite Media Inc. as its first major funding recipient."
- swalberg 15y ago
  Many pension funds have had some sort of high risk component to their portfolio. http://www.cppib.ca/News_Room/News_Releases/nr_02031001.html http://www.cppib.ca/News_Room/News_Releases/nr_02031001.html talks about the CPP's, which has been going on since 2005. I'd suspect we're only starting to hear about it because it's getting into our space. Disclaimer - I work for one of OMERS other (earlier) investments. I guess we're just not "major" :P
spullara 15y ago
The JOBS act is going to let companies like these raise money on the internet from just about anyone.
- tptacek 15y ago
  Yes, but at much lower levels. That's a valid concern with the JOBS crowdfunding provisions, though.

motti_s 15y ago

I don't think you can compare what we see now to the bubble days. Let's look at some key differences: - In the 90s there were 50 million internet users, now there are over 2 billion. The internet economy is huge. - It's becoming easier to get seed funding, but it hasn't become any easier to raise series A (some claim it's becoming harder due to the increased number of seed companies chasing those series A dollars). In the bubble days the madness went all the way to the IPO. - When the bubble burst, people lost faith in the future of technology, or at least in the rate at which it would advance. Now that phones have become computers, books have been digitized, and people rely on technology for every aspects of their lives (even to socialize!), it's pretty obvious that technology is here to stay. For sure we may see a down-swing. If macro economics go in shambles due a new war or an economic meltdown in Europe, then technology investment will suffer as well. But as opposed to the bubble days, I don't think technology investment will be the cause for such a down-swing. I think we have matured since the bubble and the fact that it was so traumatic (we're still discussing it aren't we?) also helps preventing it from re-occurring.

MrMan 15y ago
One of the reasons it is different this time, but still a bubble, is that there is tons of cheap money flowing around the globe, and sophisticated investors are desperately looking for returns. Hedge funds have had big outflows in the last 3 years. That (risk-seeking)money has to slosh somewhere. The total size of the hedge fund world is larger than in 1999-2000. Also, the concentration of advertising dollars that flows through a few key companies - Facebook, Google, Microsoft, etc., is significant. Ad spending basically drives this whole thing from the revenue side. In 1999 there was less of this money in absolute terms and also the ad and marketing folks had not yet learned how to target ads to users online. So ads + Quantitative Easing (hope I am not getting too fast and loose here but this is shorthand) means that worthless companies like Instagram can seem strategic to ad delivery platforms like Facebook. And there is so much extra risk capital chasing deals that $1B is nothing to throw away. PG has been in the right place at the right time, but just because he and his partners do things differently in their business does not mean that the macro picture is not the most important factor. edit - we have not matured we have just gotten better at online advertising and marketing. But that is arguably a great efficiency for the post-industrial service economy.