Chris Dixon has this to say about whether we’re in the midst of another tech bubble:
I think it’s a good thing that the speculation on large private tech companies is happening in secondary markets where the risks are being taken by institutions or wealthy individuals. This is in stark contrast to the dot-com bubble of the 90s where many of the people holding the bag when bubble popped were non-rich people who bought stocks through public markets. Obviously this could change if we have a bunch of tech IPOs.
This is a wise point. If investors want to plow $41 million dollars into some kind of Instagram/Flickr/Foursquare/Groupon mashup that nobody understands, what do I care?
March 29, 2011 at 9:52 pm
If only this were so simple. But think about it: where does Sequoia get $41 million to pump into Color? From large endowments and pension funds is the answer. And those guys have to answer to ordinary people. If California state can’t pay pensions to its retired workers because Sequoia squandered their money, that matters and you should care.