I Really Hope that He's Right

William Volk, a long time denizen of the tech industry,^* wonders if the financial crisis spells the death of Web 2.0, or more accurately whether it spells the death of the venture capital supported business models for internet companies.

I hope so, because I am sick to death of the kule kidz business model.

What is going on here is that the capital costs of creating an internet presence are vanishingly small, look at the cost of building just one automobile assembly plant, so silicon valley snake oil salesmen are(were) able to get money and line their pockets.

To be fair, there are two groups of people making out like raped apes on this bit of dishonest persiflage, the owners of the internet firms with non-existent business models, and the VC firms that get a commission every time that they spend other people's money.

It's been a profitable scam for some time, funded largely by the stupidity of Alan "Bubbles" Greenspan, and now it looks like the the carnival is over.

^*He was actually at the legendary meeting where a senior executive doubted the marketability of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a video game. The company also turned down licensing the Simpsons when they were still just a short bit on the Tracy Ullman Show.