The Startup Dream
What is happening in the tech startup land?
Simon Cowell and Will.i.am (don’t know if I spelled the name correctly) are launching X Factor for Tech Startups, ProSiebenSat (one of Germany’s largest TV network) launches a startup pitch competition with a prize worth EUR 4 million in advertizing time (since when are startups on mainstream TV?), Justin Bieber (18) and Selena Gomez (19) are VCs …
A new kind of bubble(s) ?
The figures above are staggering. The first dot-com bubble burst nastily, spreading around the whole industry and eventually triggering even a global recession. 2.7 billion USD in value was lost on the largest 10 dot-coms alone, as shown in the chart above.
There is much talk about the second internet bubble and lots of predictions when it is going to burst. It seems though that the bubble, or more precisely the bubbles have been bursting since more than a year now. What is 2.7 billion of lost value in 10 top dot-coms in 2000, Facebook alone had more than 50 billion USD in its paper value wiped off in just several months since its IPO (not mentioning Zynga, Groupon etc.).
New kind of bubble? or we are not there yet?
(Chart courtesy of: www.fsteurope.com)
Nice overview by Wall Street Journal on how the valuation of Facebook has been evolving. What do you think is the right valuation of Facebook?
Is “entrepreneur” the new bubble word?
We hear more and more the word “entrepreneur” these days (in a combination with the words ”innovation” and “tech” sometimes), a word that makes you sound hip and up-to-date and definitely gives you more credibility. Politicians are using it to get votes and even Universities, known for their reluctance to adapt, have quickly embraced the word
Confidence in bankers at a record low - should they worry?
Fingers have been pointed at the bankers since the crisis unraveled in 2008 and it seems that they cannot escape the spotlight since. The current financial crisis is very severe by all accounts and has greatly damaged the reputation of the banks but should they really worry? The US congress’ public approval is at a record low of 16% but it does not seem to worry the politicians - it is just a “low” period, business goes on as usual.
Since the collapse of Leendert Pieter de Neufville in Amsterdam in 1763 it seems that there was a banking crisis roughly every 10 years (a strikingly routine interval). Isn’t this just yet another crisis for the banks? Should they really worry or just sit and wait?
Battle for the internet: Eastern front
SOPA, PIPA, ACTA … the battle for internet continues, in a string of seemingly coordinated attempts to implement laws, under different noble pretexts, to give Governments powers to shut down websites without much ado. Now the battleground is Russia …
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