All the hype about Silicon Valley being a hotbed of innovative, disruptive world changers is starting to sound a bit frantic and silly, like they’re trying to convince themselves unicorns will somehow continue to grow out whatever half-baked plan just got funded.
I know of a startup in Silicon Valley where, after getting funding, the founder took himself and ten employees to Tokyo for two weeks of “team building.” Apparently team-building can’t be done properly where the business is and requires spending tens of thousands of startup money to do correctly. A cousin has funded medical startups in Massachusetts for decades. I’m real sure none of those startups would even think of going to London for two weeks because it would be a waste of time, money, and distract them from building the business. Yet such extravagance are common in Silicon Valley. I guess they think their startup will magically transform into a unicorn or, even better, they’ll do an IPO and cash out. The focus clearly is not on building long-term profitable businesses but on cashing out.
Adam Taggart has lived in Silicon Valley, worked for a startup, and thinks the bubble is bursting.
The “engine of our economy”, the “cradle of innovation”, the “land of tomorrow” — whatever breathless hyperbole the fawning media is using this week — is a sham. Silicon Valley has become a factory of hype, funneling gobs of early-stage capital into whatever half-credible concepts it can think of, and then pimping the artificially-inflated initial results of those tarted-up ventures to whichever “greater fool” is willing to acquire it or buy its IPO. Let that idiot figure out if it will ever turn a profit…
Like the too-cozy relationship between DC and Wall Street, I see a similar one between Wall Street and the Tech sector.
Mark St. Cyr thinks Sillycon Valley needs to get the crying towels ready, using Twitter as an example. They brought back Jack Dorsey to run it even those he’s also CEO of Square. This seems a desperation move rather than good business sense. Twitter probably needs a a full-time turnaround specialist as CEO.
Twitter is (again, in my opinion) a real-time microcosm of what’s about to hit the whole Valley. i.e., A real shite storm, and here’s my reasoning”¦
No one else in all the world let alone Silicon Valley was up to the task? A multi-BILLION dollar publicly traded enterprise on the forefront of all that Silicon Valley represents can’t attract any other CEO talent who could devote 100% of their abilities? This makes absolutely no sense what so ever unless: the board, as well as many investors are panic-stricken on just how bad things are behind the scenes and figured; the best they could do was to bring (or convince) a person such as Mr. Dorsey back on as CEO,
As for all those coders and geeks paying insane rents in San Francisco to work for a startup. It’s all good until it isn’t. When bubbles burst, things go down way faster than they rose.
However, you know what changes everything? When the meme of “Gonna stay here till I cash-in and then I’ll buy me a McMansion!” turns into the underlying realization that quite possibly – you’re going to end up living in a shipping container! Possibly forever if things don’t change.
Suddenly Mom and Dad’s basement looks like paradise.