Comments on: Web 2.0 “Investment Boom May Be Peaking”

By: antje wilsch

antje wilsch — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:51:12 +0000

actually I’ve been to Dubai, Kuwait and if you can believe it, Iran! And I didn’t wear a headscarf all the time. But I meant Saudi Arabia, where I am not legally allowed to drive.

You know that we agree on a lot of laughs on some of the vc-backed environment, some of the valuations and agree more often than not (well except for your lame attempts at rap lyrics) and the silicon valley investment community has a lot of very, well, strange people involved in it overall. But there are also a lot of very smart people. It’s not ~all~ luck.

But, I put forward that a lot of the internet is going to be about eyeballs and consolidating traffic. There will always be disruptions, such as Cable TV to the old 3 or 5 channels. Or bloggers to newspapers. Or MySpace to Friendster. But I also understand the rush to try and entrench while everything is still a bit up in the air. Just like last time there will be a few “last men standing” (how’s that for steretypical and sexist) giants after the fluff fails. It’s everyone’s shot honestly. Ebay, Amazon, Yahoo, the others who came from the last big rush – still relatively young companies comparatively – this is what everyone is striving for (that or a big acquisition so they can buy a couple of houses in Aruba).

By: Is Web 2.0 Funding Over? Or Just Moving? - Profy.Com

Is Web 2.0 Funding Over? Or Just Moving? - Profy.Com — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:12:13 +0000

[...] a story today that virtually every blog has been tiptoeing around but not addressing, except for Drama 2.0, but we know how much he likes to rub our noses in any possible popping of the bubble. The story, [...]

By: Drama 2.0

Drama 2.0 — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:24:41 +0000

Antje: there’s no doubt that access to capital has been synonymous with technological innovation. The problem, of course, is that many VCs are today working against innovation just as much (if not more) than they’re working for it. In many cases, their investment strategy is not sufficient for the type of innovation that has the greatest potential and is most needed.

I actually like clean energy but one of the significant problems I see with many of the investments VCs are making in this space is that they’re backing the wrong people. I will not go so far as to say that a former Silicon Valley executive, for instance, is completely incapable of building a successful clean energy business, but VCs should recognize that this is a completely different ball game and I think many will learn that the hard way.

I’d guess that a fairly substantial number of VC-backed clean energy companies are not going to be economically viable anytime soon and may never be. Some only have a chance if government subsidies stay in place.

As for oil, I think your perceptions may be a bit too stereotypical. Go to Dubai, Doha or Tehran. You might be surprised. And if you’re still not comfortable, Houston isn’t such a bad place either.

By: antje wilsch

antje wilsch — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:51:08 +0000

This is not new news. For those companies I talk to in this space seeking funding, most web companies are getting rejected and have been for many months now. What’s hot is clean/bio tech (green), search, and advertising.

While your disdain of the VC world is palpable D, and not without cause, I still shudder to think where the country would be if we didn’t have technology; a lot of it rises to the top (on top of a lot of crap that silts to the bottom) and the funding world plays a large role in innovation.

To go drama-to-the-other-side, if *everyone* invested in oil & gold, we’d be wearing turbans and I wouldn’t be allowed to drive.