If I took a shot for every time someone said the words “bubble,” “boom,” or “bust” at Google’s holiday press party tonight, I would probably be wasted. Fortunately, the drinking game didn’t occur to me until my drive home and Google only served wine and beer anyway.
There were about 100 people at the Mountain View event, including Sergey Brinn and Larry Page, who both seemed eager to escape post haste. Luckily I caught up with them for a quick chat and photo before they left the party for some “real food.” (We only got hors d’oeuvres and sushi served on a surf board.)
I also got to speak briefly with YouTube founder Steve Chen, who is very smiley (who wouldn’t be in his shoes?), and his partner Chad Hurley, who seemed forced to be there.
“So why the Verizon deal?” I asked Hurley.
“I don’t know, it was just a place to start,” he shrugged and then sort of wandered off.
Okay then.
Even though the bigwigs weren’t letting loose at the party, the “corporate communications” folks were understandably enthusiastic. It seems Google has hired something like 500 new PR employees, each as nice as the next but looking rather nervous that they might be asked tough tech questions. Of all the big tech companies, Google’s press department is one of my favorites to work with so I stuck with the holidays for conversational fodder.
But the other journalists and analysts wanted to talk dirty. Are we in a boom or are we in a bubble headed for a bust? Are there too many start ups? And what is that pesky Yahoo up to? I personally lean towards boom over bubble, and that seemed to be the general consensus. For some reason, everyone thinks that we will be more reasonable and level-headed this time around. After all, if we were in the 2000 bubble mentality of limitless spending and optimism, wouldn’t we all have been served “real food?”
Yeah. What is that pesky Yahoo! up to anyway? =)
I almost forgot. Nice pics. It’s not everyday that you get great photo ops with cool Silicon Valley billionaires. Very nice. I am jealous. =)
They needed to invite Tim Draper. He always brings life to a party. Well, just don’t let him start singing ringmaster for no good reason. When I’m at Web 2.0 parties/meetups/keggers, I think people use the words bubble, boom, and bust just to be cool.
-JLB
It’s official. Natali is T3H H0Tn3SS.
Looks like you have had a nice party at google.
I guess the google founders had another pary in ther scedule or they are just orred, becaue there are alot of parties at google.
Thank you for sharing this good news with me !
looks like a fun party. ask the pr flacks tough questions next time, anyway. that’s what they’re there for, no?
she’s smoking
http://www.crankygeeks.com/200....._20_1.html
nice nice nice
guess there just bored of parties by now..
damn its hard to imagine a less flattering picture of steve chen.
And Hurley wandered off from YOU?? Is he gay?
Wow, that party sounded lame! Nat appeared to be the evening eye candy. …and “J”, Hurley must be Google And Youtube
I am quite puzzled to find such unrelevant content on this site. Looks more like a good occasion to put up some gossip and nice pics.
A great party. great peoples there.
http://www.ezecho.com
What you don’t see in the photo is Nat grabbing Steve’s google. That’s not a smile that’s a “… oh baby ….”
Thanks Natali. Nice pics. So, any opinions why Google has brought on so many PR folks right now?
I was wondering who is the stunning girl in the photos until I saw the author of this blog.
My initial thoghts was:
She must be either Sergey’s the other half or Chad’s or Steve, what a lucky guy!
Thanks for showing us the photos. Great to see the big guys!
Same thinking , When I saw the pic of Nat and sergey thought “sergey’s done well for himself” but then after more reading but the girl in the pic and Miss Del Conte together as being the same person.
Wow she is stunning ,
On a side note this site is going from when it first started “as the place to hear about new startups” to recently being lame.
Perhaps the team is struggling for new startups to review . Im a brit and headed to the UK version and that is god dam stupid. surely there must be some startups to review in the uk not just the latest VC/Angel getogher ?
That’s Natali with Sergey? Her articles have suddenly gotten more interesting.
Valleywag called. It wants it’s subject matter back.
Hurley needs to figure out how to hide that enormous forehead and shit-eating grin.
I am sure multi-millionaire Hurley always takes advice from a dork on a blog
Oh god! Behold, the leaders and innovative thinkers of Web 2.0. Slobbering over this woman. Guys, either get a life, or get to a porn site and begin working at it. This isn’t the place for this bullshit. I don’t wake up every morning with my coffee in hand to start reading the latest news to see, oh baby, this baby, hey baby. Grow the F**k Up.
It must be great though to be surrounded by the Gurus of Web 2.0. Its okay! Yahoo should be holding their Press Party in NYC! =), since thats where their pr division is ^_-.
Anyone know anything about this?
Well PR and Marketing is what can not be escaped in order to build a great brand.
lol.. Steve does look very smiley ( in a weird way ) in the pic..
If anyone thinks this is not a bubble they are fooling themselves. Sure it isn’t as bloated as the dot com era, but it is a bubble. When the average person cannot even describe what most of these 2.0 companies do and there are 5000 photo/video/music/social networking sites that are hardly distinguishable from each other with lots of money being invested into these worthless companies it is a bubble. Plain and simple.
Here is the quick test to determine if it is a bubble or boom. Are most of these companies taking on more debt then most of them will ever actually make? If yes (which is the case right now) then it is a bubble. I like Techcrunch but every time they post “XYZ company closes another round for $ABC million dollars in series B funding” I think “debt is not always good thing!” Sometimes it is necessary to get an idea started but it should be fairly shortly followed up with “Foo Investment company has had a 400% profit from their investment in company XYZ and company XYZ annouced their profit for the year is $ABCDEFG million dollars”
Also being bought for 1.65 billion is still not a profit, Sure the original investors made a profit but unless the company starts actually making serious money then the buyer will be out serious money. This will contribute to the overall bubble burst.
Did any of the other guys on this thread TOTALLY ignore the men in those photos?
Um… why is this on TechCrunch?
27. # Ryan
December 5th, 2006 at 6:44 am
Um… why is this on TechCrunch?
-> Maybe because Natali Del Conte is very cute? It’s enough of a reason for me.
Aw poor Frank, we ruined his morning coffee. If you’re reading comments for the latest news, you’re looking in the wrong place.
My first impression when I saw the picture where Sergey with a hot hot stunning lady was, she must be his girlfriend. I was thinking I wish I was a billionaire.
Then I realized she was the author of the article
Just wonder how hard it is for billionaires like them to get chicks like her.
God damnit PPL! My Coffee!
Geez, Natali break me of a piece of whatever you are breaking to all those Silicone Valley guys. Looking hot with your fine Morena and classy self. My guess is that you are Mexican.
Boom or Bubble…
I’m just about to launch my second company (my first was in 1997). Sorry guys (and gals) but this is not even close to a bubble YET. It kinda reminds me of 1996. We still have another three years before things get really insane…
Natalie you are so hot:(
Wow Natali, you’re smoking hot.
It’s a bit difficult to have a party at Google scale. The company’s traditional holiday celebration is a ski trip to the Lake Tahoe region. Google rents out an entire ski resort, such as past venues Squaw Valley and Heavenly, and fills parking lots with giant tents for late-night parties.
*yawn*
Mr. Chen definetly has a lot to smile about! a couple million dollar smile~
You know I’ve been looking at the pictures for about a half hour now and I still can’t find either Brin or Hurley or Chen.
Natali is a beautiful woman and I know that’s not the point of the article, but it does make the article more fun to read for some strange reason. I mean, as guys, are we more likely to read an article if it’s written by a beautiful woman that we can see a picture of. What if the article was written by a 5′2″, overweight, balding guy? Natali (if you’re reading this) I would have been smiling from ear to ear standing next to you. Whatever “it” is…baby, you got it.
Natali is hot. Enuf said.
ndc - aerobics instructor/tech columnist/fake bono hanger-on/tech tv commentator/tech blogger. makes sense.
http://www.gearlog.com/2006/09.....u_noob.php
at least you don’t have to be a hottie to make it as a woman in tech.
or something.
Hay Natali! You’re quite HOT! Are you single? If yes, why don’t we go out sometime???
You can reach me at vsohal (at) gmail.com.
Consider this to be your lucky day!
By the way, I think Chad was being a d**k because he’s losing his precious hair. He should call Bosley Medical, I bet he can afford it.
It’s always funny to see how money changes people. In the early days of YouTube, Chad was extremely nice to the media people. But I guess his real self is finally coming out now that he doesn’t need anyone.
Sorry the food was not up to your standards. Maybe you should not attend next time to protest! I will gladly go in your place.
I hope Michael provides you with the foods and pastries that your body desires.
C’mon, you got invited to a members-only type party and instead of giving us news we can use, we hear about the crappy food.
C’mon Natalie, let’s get on track!
All of this “Natali is hot” banter is lame. I appreciate the sentiment and my parents (who are not Mexican) thank you but enough already! I am not the poster girl for tech and have no aspirations along those lines.
Covering Google’s press event is a perfectly valid news topic. If you don’t want to read it, skip to the next post! Do you read every single news item on the other news blogs/sites that you visit? Certainly not EVERY topic will not interest EVERY reader but I think the “boom” or “bust” debate is one that we could certainly take on in this forum. So drop the comments about me personally and take a real stance on Web 2.0 for goodness sakes!
Geez, if you are in need of some eye candy then do a search on the Internet for Paris Hilton or something.
I cant believe one guy is actually trying to ask her out. Yeah man, she’s single and she’s going to respond to some creep that leaves her his email on an Internet msg board telling her that she’s hot. What do you expect? She’s going to be so flattered at this faceless person saying that she’s hot that she’s going to take you up on your offer and email you asking you out? How about a dose of reality and some appreciation for her actual work?
Nice article Natali, keep up the good work.
With all that is going on we are in a boom, but how long will this boom last? In my opinion maybe till summer of next year. What follows from such a momentous boom, another huge BUBBLE BURST. So get in while you can, take the money while you can, but be weary of summer of 07′ when web 3.0 will emerge and the fall of web 2.0 will take place.
How’s that for a response Natali? (=
Natalie, well put! Over here we all know you are a very smart, motivated and savvy reporter (and yes, we miss you).
@ Ron: Dude, if you think I’m seriously trying to ask Natali out, you’re crazy! That’s not my real email and no, I’m not some creep. IT WAS A JOKE!
@ Natali: Learn to take it easy. Damn! We’re all successful young people here just having a good time. No one is trying to give you a tough time. CHILL!
Good comments Ron but I don’t think that this largely web 2.0 driven expansion has been that momentous. Funding levels are 75% below 2000, IPO’s practically non-existent, modest m&a activity. Hell some of the companies even have revenue. God bless, a couple are even profitable. This actually augurs well for boom advocates who would want to see a longer sustained growth curve (similar to the housing boom), which is now dropping slowly (in aggregate) rather than precipitously. I think the web 3.0 discussion is relevant but I see it extending the Web 2.0 growth curve.
So I stand by my three year prognosis but I will hedge my bets by taking your counsel under advisement
Not to offend, here, Natalie looks better live on Crankygeeks, http://www.crankygeeks.com/2006/07/
I can see why Sergey and Chad/Steve wanted a photo with you: you’ve got a pretty excellent smile yourself
Oh yeah, gotta love the minimalism on the food too.
(Yes, my love is for food and women with great smiles)
I could be wrong, but the comments pertaining to Natali’s looks seem unprofessional to me. The post is interesting and telling, although it doesn’t seem to be fit quite with the TechCrunch focus…
Wow. I miss the old TechCrunch.
#54. I agree Nathan. If I could, I would delete my previous comments.
Sometimes I feel that I’m still in law school and hence the childish comments. Oh well, my apologies to Natali.
Point well taken Natali. Now, will you marry me?
These parties do seem like excellent networking opportunities, and great fun besides. Anyone have an idea about how to learn of the events *before* they occur? Are there any worthwhile events upcoming on the east coast??
ahussain (at) fas.harvard.edu
Good coverage of a legitimate event. IMHO “ear to the ground” coverage of the mood of events like this is a good foreshadowing of the following months; if the general consensus at a google event is that the boom will continue, then I’m willing to follow that lead.
BTW - it must be sweet to rub shoulders with the folks you got to meet - good times!
I hope that we are in a boom rather than a bubble, some of the vc going around seems more conservative than during the bubble. However, I also think that if we are in a boom rather than a bubble, it is largely because of changing market factors (e.g. more people on the internet), rather than a more conservative approach.
Natali,
Nial (no. 36) was correct in his earlier comments that it’s hard to scale a
party at Google’s size and growth rate. This party was likely a small
holiday gesture to promote goodwill and accomodate industry press people.
It may have even been a frugle (not Froogle) anti-bubble statement.
The YouTube presence, complete with it’s smiling and newly enriched founders
is reminiscent of their Blogger acquisition or of Flickr/Delicious by Yahoo!
Interesting to see what develops.
If Hurley was indifferent, it may be because he’s realized the loss of
control following their liquidity event. Chen seems a content, successful
person and it’s cool to see you and these former PayPal alumni in action.
Let’s face it, public markets are currently closed to many Web 2.0 startups.
Investments or outright acquisition by giants like Google, Microsoft, IAC or
a restructuring Yahoo provide viable means to bring an idea to the masses.
The welcomed photos offer the entrepreneur a rare glipse at the top and
therefore, it’s very relevant to see this kind of story on Techcrunch.
Peter W.
hey sweetheart, no need to deny. you are hot! it’s cool, you’re modest. i like that.
very niiiiice. how much?
Some comments to some of the commenters here.
Ron, Paris Hilton is not eye candy. I could could elaborate, but I don’t think she deserves any more publicity and I would just be propagating the problem.
Natali, I don’t have any idea who you are, but please… You look really hottt in those pics as everyone will agree. So what’s the big deal, luxuriate in it. If you’re half as sophisticated as you look, just accept it with grace. I think any socially adept and reasonable woman can handle such comments with ease, especially from suburban computer nerds. If you were making your debut at the Opernball in Vienna then perhaps some admonishment would be in order, but this is really quite ephemeral, so please let the adoration continue. A genuine beauty outshines a Hollywood glamour skank (e.g. Paris Hilton) any day so all these geeks are very well justified in their comments. Afterall, it’s only natural for a man to mention his appreciation. Wouldn’t you agree? By the way, if the idea of attending the Opernball should strike you, perhaps something could be arranged.
Baci di mezzanotte
While I can understand that Natali is a bit dazzled by all these comments about her looks, and we could discuss the “curse of the beautiful women” who are not taken seriously because of good looks, I cannot help but be a tad amused that you seem to be shocked ny it.
An article about “think the “boom” or “bust” debate” is one that we could certainly have (not me, but that’s not relevant), but then people think in images. And what can we see as an illustrating pictures ? certainly not “boom” or “bust”.
And Del Conte must be italian…
I used Paris Hilton to make a point to show how juvenile some people are being.
Marc, you’re just as bad. The young lady has asked that we stop these comments and focus on her work. If you were making these sort of comments or advances at work then you could be reported for sexual harrassment. Why don’t you ask one of the executives at your company to go to the Opernball In Vienna with you. Let us know how that turns out. Also, try not to be too disappointed if a writer who has never met, spoke, or had any contact with you, doesn’t take you up on your offer to go to Vienna with you. I could be wrong but I’m just saying…
If you have this uncontrollable urge to ‘mention your appreciation’ then do it at your local strip club. There are plenty of women there that will be happy for to be on the receiving end of this ‘natural appreciation’ of yours. I’m sure there are many there that have this sophisticated look that you’re looking for.
This Natali wants us to focus on her writing and not on her looks, I say we respect her wishes. It would be terrible for a serious writer to have a reputation as only being pretty.
Sorry for being the board a-hole but there is a time and a place for admiring beautiful women and this isn’t it. Thats not why I (or any of you for that matter) came to Tech Crunch. Natali is pretty but she’s not going to meet or date any of us so lets forget that fantasy and resist the urge to comment on her looks constantly and get back to the reason we are all here…. Tech.
Geez folks chill out. She’s beautiful, it’s obvious. But, that’s not the reason she posted the pictures. It’s about the content. She’s telling a story and added the pics to help us visualize the story.
Beautiful, yes. Her ethnic background, maybe she’s Latina (perhaps Boricua), but it’s irrelevant to the story. Some respect not only for Natali, but her parents and boyfriend too. Yes, who’s to doubt she has a boyfriend. But, that’s not why we come here or why she writes for TechCrunch.
I don’t think she is Italian. She is Latino, I’m guessing Salvadorean?
Natali isn’t cute, she’s absolutely gorgeous. A beautiful, stunning woman.
The rest of this thread is pointless when in the presence of such elegance.
You know…
We’d have more women in this industry if people could refrain from frightnening them away !
The level of arrested development is painful to watch.
*sigh*
I’d do Natali
Sorry - some unfunny person in my office took over my account for that last post.
I warned you …
*further sigh*
Hi! Nice site!
i look forward to see it completed