
If Web 1.0’s Kryptonite Was the Bust, Web 2.0 Kryptonite Was the Grind - thiele
http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/03/if-web-1-0%E2%80%99s-kryptonite-was-the-bust-web-2-0-kryptonite-was-the-grind/
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jdietrich
The very fact that the words "dipshit $40m companies" were ever uttered with a
straight face suggests to me that we all _completely lost our fucking minds_.

A $40m company is an amazing achievement for anyone and I can't imagine the
level of neurosis and inferiority that would make you consider that a
"dipshit" accomplishment. Building a billion-dollar company is a once in a
generation thing in any industry, none of us should forget that.

People talk about "riding a wave" as if it's about being in the right place at
the right time. Ask a surfer and you'll get the truth - riding a big wave is
about getting up really early and paddling like a motherfucker all day into
wave after wave, until eventually you get a big one. If you just sit there
waiting for a big wave to come, you're just going to get drowned by it.

The whole economy has been a great big childish bubble for the last decade or
more. It has burst, which is great. Credit is cheap, rents are cheap, labour
is cheap, the incumbents are panicked and markets are restructuring. Pick a
wave and paddle for it - by the time you can see that it's a big one, you'll
have missed it.

~~~
ojbyrne
In the real world, $40 million dollars would typically mean at most a 5x
profit valuation, meaning 8 million in profit, and probably $80-$100 million
in revenue, and hundreds of employees.

In the valley and California, $40 million often means a talent acquisition
with interesting technology, and smart people, but no idea how to monetize it
or create a sustainable business.

Hence the "dipshit" label.

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gojomo
Lacey may be mistaking her circumstances -- at TC -- and those of her main
subjects -- like Rose -- for a general weariness.

There's no shortage of twentysomethings, far from tired, with the added
advantage of being able to take for granted everything prior companies
exhausted themselves proving out.

~~~
waterlesscloud
She's talking about the end of a particular wave, which is fine.

There will be new waves.

~~~
gojomo
I suppose I don't like the 'wave' analogy here, because it implies there's a
general lull in "Web" right now -- a pause between waves, or low tide, or some
such cyclical slowdown.

In fact, despite troubles in the general economy, there's no such slowdown.
The Web sector is booming -- and focusing on a few 'weary' companies and
people of a certain generation _isn't_ a general sectoral indicator, at all.

The wave _is still going right now with plenty of energy_ , and reporting to
the contrary is a disservice.

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mahmud
A humane piece of lamenting prose that managed to make feel sympathetic toward
Kevin Rose _and_ Michael Arrington. A first. Read it for the 5th paragraph,
and the last.

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aspir
I think this is where hacker-built businesses have a unique opportunity.
They're well versed with the development grind. Though the media company grind
is very different, mainly through the necessary inclusion of many more people
involved, hackers know how to overcome a bug and solve problems. Since the
problem is on their end (the grind) as opposed to external forces (a bubble)
these businesses have more of a fighting chance then the dot com companies
that dried up quickly and painfully.

~~~
thiele
Hacker-built businesses still have the grind of acquiring customers, getting
traction, growing revenue, etc. All businesses are subject to external forces.

~~~
aspir
It goes without saying that all business endeavors will have problems being
for-profit institutions. What I meant with the post before was that given the
normal wear of growing a business and doing the same while including the
web1.0 bubble, I'll take the costs of doing business alone without the
macroeconomic cloud.

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KevBurnsJr
"... and with the right kind of eyes, you an almost see the high water mark.
That place where the wave finally broke and rolled back." -- Hunter S.
Thompson

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zI_me2X2hA>

