Web 2.0 Sobriety
I’ve read today EarlyStageVC’s post Web 2.0 - Over and Out and to say the least I wasn’t very happy. I guess a better title for the post would have been “Web 2.0 - Over and Out for VCs”!
As a web 2.0/web/online entrepreneur that has been in the startup business for more then 10 years, I know that innovation comes in waves and after every high tide there is a low. We can call the current low sobriety.
Sobriety for web 2.0 entrepreneurs (of course the ones who didn’t make it on the acquisition list of google) means deep understanding that natural ad based growth can’t support a business system and making the app better (which is needed always even when your app is a killer) takes money. Usually during sobriety you start thinking and that takes time unless you want to repeat same mistakes. I think it is not death, it just preparation for the next round.
I agree it resembles the bubble burst and many want to be the first to identify and tell about the next burst. Still, it just look similar but is not the same. Even for the small fact that people dependency level on the net nowadays vs. 199X era is totally different and only grows.
I feel that the next startup wave will be much more conservative in terms of sustainable business models and as such it will be much more valuable to users.
VCs trying to capitalize on the fast route to payment of highly succesful web 2.0 companies (the ones who were acquired) really don’t have much to do in this domain anymore unless they look for investing in real businesses that grow organically. Same thing as in enterprise software, with just different rules of game.
Dudu