Well, I moved to Silicon Valley in 1983. Back then everybody talked about how expensive houses were (a nice house was in the high 100-low 200k) and how overpriced the real estate market was. Save for a minor dip in the 90's housing prices have never fallen in 22 years. The median price in Santa Clara County (not where Larry Ellison & Steve Jobs live... where regular folks live) is $615k.
only the End of the Beginning. Startups continue to get funded although they now have to have some reasonable idea of how they will actually make money. There was a report on the San Francisco public radio station yesterday that said that if you look at growth in Silicon Vally over the last 20 years and "flatten" (whatever that means) the growth around the bubble, Silicon Valley continues to grow at relatively the same pace as before.
I disagree. Unless you've done it before or are far enough up the management food chain to undertsand the mechanics involved, I think very few people knew everything that was written here.
The beauty of this article was gathering all of this information into one place, especially if you have no idea how to go about creating a successful startup (and, as history shows, most people don't).
You still need "something customers want". Yes, with great salesmen you can probably sell a few dogshit-flavored popsicles, but as customers probably, as a rule, won't want them, you will not succeed.
Let's see. Before the US entered the war, the Nazis had conquered all of Europe, save Great Britain. I would hardly call that an enemy on it's knees.
At that time, the Nazia were in effect, fighting a 1-front war. Had that continued, it is doubtful the Russians would have prevailed (but it's a what-if... who knows). Also, who paid for rebuilding Europe after the war? Russia? France? The UK? Had the US turned their backs at that point, Europeans would all be calling each other comrade in their agrarian society.
Well, let's see, they provided weapons, military training and aid to the American Colonists in the Revolutionary War.
Yes, the French continue to be well-known for always willing to make a profit, regardless of consequences.
One little short frenchie with a bad attitude almost conquered the entire world, twice.
Europe != World
developed the most heavily armored and gunned tanks during the early German Blitz, one French Char B1-Bis held up an entire German Division for an entire day.
Sadly, it appears that the next day, they surrendered. We'll skip over the Marshall Plan at the end of said war while we're at it.
They've developed nuclear weapons
First? Second? Third world countries have developed nuclear weapons. BFD.
Euro continues to dominate the American Dollar
You might want to look back a little further in historical performance of USD vs EUR.
They were one of the first modern countries to pick on the buzzword "Democracy" long before a bunch of colonists got pissed at their King's latest tax law.
Hmm Declaration of Independence: 1776. French Revolution: 1789.
This is an industry where you can make money off OSS. Not just supporting OSS, but if you can develop a package of useful OSS apps and offer the to businesses too busy (or focused elsewhere) to implement & maintain themseleves, you can make a tidy living.
For example, if you developed an easy-to-use & maintain (think GUI for the receptionist) Asterisk PBX, you could probably sell that into a lot of small businesses. Sell some maintenance on top of it and after a while you have a nice recurring revenue stream.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, I moved to Silicon Valley in 1983. Back then everybody talked about how expensive houses were (a nice house was in the high 100-low 200k) and how overpriced the real estate market was. Save for a minor dip in the 90's housing prices have never fallen in 22 years. The median price in Santa Clara County (not where Larry Ellison & Steve Jobs live... where regular folks live) is $615k.
All the "Wrong people" now have 5+ years of expeience. They're not going anywhere. The post-bubble career changing is, IMHO, for the most part over.
only the End of the Beginning. Startups continue to get funded although they now have to have some reasonable idea of how they will actually make money. There was a report on the San Francisco public radio station yesterday that said that if you look at growth in Silicon Vally over the last 20 years and "flatten" (whatever that means) the growth around the bubble, Silicon Valley continues to grow at relatively the same pace as before.
At least you won't have to worry about writing thank you notes. :)
And, in most states, the plaintiff can go back to court and add another 7 years on the time to collect.
Every single partner at Sequoia, KP & USVP has done it multiple times, and those are just 3 firms I know for a fact.
A successful VC has to do this over and over again, which pretty much eliminates the possibility of "succeeding in spite of yourself".
The beauty of this article was gathering all of this information into one place, especially if you have no idea how to go about creating a successful startup (and, as history shows, most people don't).
You still need "something customers want". Yes, with great salesmen you can probably sell a few dogshit-flavored popsicles, but as customers probably, as a rule, won't want them, you will not succeed.
from a successful venture capitalist.
It results in a better-attended wake/funeral.
There's no such thing as bad publicity.
Let's see. Before the US entered the war, the Nazis had conquered all of Europe, save Great Britain. I would hardly call that an enemy on it's knees. At that time, the Nazia were in effect, fighting a 1-front war. Had that continued, it is doubtful the Russians would have prevailed (but it's a what-if... who knows). Also, who paid for rebuilding Europe after the war? Russia? France? The UK? Had the US turned their backs at that point, Europeans would all be calling each other comrade in their agrarian society.
War of 1812 Spanish-American War
2 words: Marshall Plan
No, that would be a separate article. Anything Linus does is a separate article.
Sheesh.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Unlike the French who couldn't fucking care less who they sell shit to as long as it's at a profit.
Your analogy sucks.
Yes, the French continue to be well-known for always willing to make a profit, regardless of consequences.
One little short frenchie with a bad attitude almost conquered the entire world, twice.
Europe != World
developed the most heavily armored and gunned tanks during the early German Blitz, one French Char B1-Bis held up an entire German Division for an entire day.
Sadly, it appears that the next day, they surrendered. We'll skip over the Marshall Plan at the end of said war while we're at it.
They've developed nuclear weapons
First? Second? Third world countries have developed nuclear weapons. BFD.
Euro continues to dominate the American Dollar
You might want to look back a little further in historical performance of USD vs EUR.
They were one of the first modern countries to pick on the buzzword "Democracy" long before a bunch of colonists got pissed at their King's latest tax law.
Hmm Declaration of Independence: 1776. French Revolution: 1789.
You Sir, are an uneducated bigot
Glass houses.
Especially since Richard Stallman i sknown for having such a firm grasp on reality.
Chinkpads
go ahead, all you PC-people... mod me into oblivion, even though you smiled when you read it.
This is an industry where you can make money off OSS. Not just supporting OSS, but if you can develop a package of useful OSS apps and offer the to businesses too busy (or focused elsewhere) to implement & maintain themseleves, you can make a tidy living.
For example, if you developed an easy-to-use & maintain (think GUI for the receptionist) Asterisk PBX, you could probably sell that into a lot of small businesses. Sell some maintenance on top of it and after a while you have a nice recurring revenue stream.
You want something that you can wipe your butt with and then hold against your face to speak into like a cell phone?
Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
The Internet is free? Really? You mean I've been writing these checks to my ISP all these years for nothing?