*On Facebook, one “friend” wouldn’t shut the hell up. I can’t see my girlfriend’s posts because they’re swamped out in an hour. I removed this “friend.” But when I signed up on it, the FIRST thing I noted was the extreme volume of ads. I had to be very, very careful where I clicked the mouse. That’s not a good site, that’s one misclick away from retyping an entire post. Happened more than once. To hell with them and their breed.

*Myspace: I stopped using this. Lame. Can’t say much more that that; I realized that it really had nothing just before I signed up on it. Yeah, in that order.

The same goes for all of these other web-based and solely web-centric companies. Don’t get me started on the truly worthless idea of the “microblogging” craze. This is a fad and like Myspace and Facebook, it will eventually see its end. Creating and riding fads does produce money - for a short time. In the long run be sure to sell your shares and get out before the bubble that gets burst is your own.

One notable exception has been Amazon.com. Since its inception, Amazon.com served a purpose: it was and still is a clearinghouse at which people can buy stuff that might not be sold or stocked at any place locally. Note that the things that Amazon sells are real *things* and not vapor that can dissipate if some millionaire decides to unplug the server.

If you want to start a business, then yes, include a web component that people can use to find out about you and perhaps even purchase something from you. Use it for some (but not all) of your marketing. Use it as a place for you to disseminate information and to collect feedback. But please God don’t try to restart the dotcom bubble. Give me something of value. Something I can sink my teeth into. Something I need and want. Something worth my dollars. I can’t use another damned web-based app.

*It’s payroll. Ya need an editor!

I agree that technological innovation can definitely help pique interest in the VC market. There’s no denying that. I also agree that now is the time to start something new, though I have a slightly different spin on it: if you have 0 sales now, how can it possibly get any worse! The only way to go is up!

@Sue: Uhm. There’s a joke:

A man wanted to buy a horse. He talked to a farmer and agreed to buy one of his horses for $100. When he arrived to get it, the horse had died.

“I’m sorry, son, but the horse died last night. I’ve got your money, you can have it back if you want.”

“No thank you sir, I’ll take the horse as-is.”

He took the horse. A few months later he saw the farmer again, who asked:

“I’m sorry, but I’ve been wonderin’… what did you DO with that dead horse I sold you a while back?”

“Oh, I raffled it. I sold 1000 tickets at $2 each.”

“You raffled it?!? Didn’t anyone complain?”

“Just the guy who won…”

“What did you do?”

“I gave him his $2 back.”

We are in the midst of a global financial meltdown–and that’s not being dramatic. Only time will tell whether or not there will be consumer market with sufficient buying power to sustain/promote emerging technological advances.

The true moral of the story is that - in tough times - people create tools with real utility and real business models. There is neither patience, nor money for kids with cool ideas, so entrepreneurs are forced to get back to the basics in tough times. They are absorbed into the mainstream and flourish as the economy inevitably enters the recovery and prosperity.

This only further supports my well documented claim that the last 4 years has seen far too much emphasis on “cool” but utterly useless tools. It is no coincidence - but it is ironic - that this occurs as VC’s become flush with cash thanks the success of real technologies.

Unfortunately, the availablity of funds leads to waaayyy too many dumb ideas, which are only accentuated by the likes of Techcrunch that get caught up in the mania, which then leads to waaayyy more dumb ideas.

Unfortunately - but inevitably - dumb ideas don’t last. VC’s get squeezed by the lack of exits and suddenly people in Silicon Valley are shocked at the drop off in VC funding.

If you need any further proof, just take a look at both the size of the TC Dead Pool and it’s accelerating rate of growth.

Unlike Dan, however, I won’t make the mistake of creating a causal connection betwen crappy technology innovations and a weakening economy. Crappy technologies suffer in a weak economy, they don’t create a weak economy.

Likewise, great technologies are born out of scarcity and flourish in a growing economy, they don’t create it.

Regards,
George

I was hoping for more information on how successful companies started during times are tough.

I’m sick of seeing comments from this guy shamelessly trying to hawk his garbage domains with the word locator in them.