Discussion about "LinkedIn's Stunning Public Debut Heightens Fears Of Bubble 2.0 - Forbes (blog)"

LinkedIn's Stunning Public Debut Heightens Fears Of Bubble 2.0 - Forbes (blog)

Are we seeing another Internet bubble in the making?

For months now, the frantic activity in the social networking sector
has created growing fears that history is repeating itself. For those of
who lived through Internet Bubble 1.0, which popped 10 years ago, the
possibility is chilling. The undoing of the last bubble resulted in
massive job losses, a huge stock market sell-off and the disappearance
of hundreds of companies. Oh, inflating the bubble is fun, no doubt
about that. On the way up, salaries inflate, entrepreneurs make millions
and venture capitals scramble for a piece of the action. All of that
seems to be happening right now. In the Valley, there is an intense
battle for engineering talent. Valuations for hot new companies is going
through the roof, as VCs battle it out for the best deals.

In other ways, the current situation looks nothing like the first
Internet bubble. (For instance, there is no insane salary-inflating
battle for journalists this time around. Sigh.) The most obvious
difference is that until now, all of the action has been taking place in
the venture capital market, or at least, in the newly emerging
secondary market for venture investments. There have been just a handful
of IPOs, aside from a flurry of Chinese Internet deals. But many of the
key social networking

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