Poll: Tech Bubble?
I was here in the Valley for the original Bubble, and the situation
now is nothing like that was.  Back then people were saying there
was a "new economy" driven by the Internet, and that productivity
was going to go up like a step function, which justified higher p/e
ratios for any company that could claim to be a participant.  If
you had money to invest you felt like you had to have most of it
in the stock market, because money parked in bonds would miss out
on all this growth that was coming.<p>Back in the 90s I was sure there was a bubble happening, and was
notorious for telling everyone to sell.  And yet I remember that
even I thought it was dangerous to have money sitting in bonds.  I
don't think that now, and I don't think anyone else does either.<p>What's happening now is a lot more localized.  A few professional
investors are paying higher valuations for startups than they were
a few years ago.  But the number of participants and the amounts
of money moving around are both very small compared to the 90s.
Plus the companies are better.  In the 90s, it was the dumb leading
the dumb: smooth-talking MBAs were raising money from hapless LPs
and investing it in startups run by other smooth-talking MBAs.  Now
it's Yuri Milner investing in a company run by Mark Zuckerberg.