Comments on: Once Bubbled, Twice Shy http://www.rluxemburg.com/2007/12/09/once-bubbled-twice-shy/ It's Latin for "Let there be light" Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:14:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Liz Greer http://www.rluxemburg.com/2007/12/09/once-bubbled-twice-shy/#comment-1782 Liz Greer Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:32:40 +0000 http://www.rluxemburg.com/2007/12/09/once-bubbled-twice-shy/#comment-1782 The 'bubbles' represent the extremes, but in my experience, the technology game has always been high risk, because by definition it's a race with someone else to deliver better/faster/cheaper--and as with many things, there will only be one clear winner. So the potential is always there for the hero/zero thing. I've seen this in many technology cycles over (yes) the last 25 years. And um, yes, I've bet on the wrong horse many times. The problem is that eventually the ridiculous pace and the win/lose dichotomy becomes normal to us and then we wonder why we get so stressed. When I talk to friends in non-tech I am always amazed at the difference-- how everything else seems so slow and plodding compared to the spirited pace in technology. So I agree with your conclusion that you do need to be able to take it all in stride, and not take things too seriously! The ‘bubbles’ represent the extremes, but in my experience, the technology game has always been high risk, because by definition it’s a race with someone else to deliver better/faster/cheaper–and as with many things, there will only be one clear winner. So the potential is always there for the hero/zero thing. I’ve seen this in many technology cycles over (yes) the last 25 years. And um, yes, I’ve bet on the wrong horse many times.

The problem is that eventually the ridiculous pace and the win/lose dichotomy becomes normal to us and then we wonder why we get so stressed. When I talk to friends in non-tech I am always amazed at the difference– how everything else seems so slow and plodding compared to the spirited pace in technology. So I agree with your conclusion that you do need to be able to take it all in stride, and not take things too seriously!

]]> By: seamus http://www.rluxemburg.com/2007/12/09/once-bubbled-twice-shy/#comment-1724 seamus Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:13:23 +0000 http://www.rluxemburg.com/2007/12/09/once-bubbled-twice-shy/#comment-1724 Good post, Rachel. I just watched the video... It's a strange, strange culture, this Sili Valley. There's some stuff I don't get, especially the hero worship that often devolves in cultishness; the sniping; the high-schoolish haterism. But there's also a lot that's cool and interesting. And the current web company boom doesn't feel at all like a bubble. It feels more like a strong economy, and a well-monetized market with low barriers to entry. But it's delivering real value, not just "tulips," and the money is real, too. Good post, Rachel. I just watched the video… It’s a strange, strange culture, this Sili Valley. There’s some stuff I don’t get, especially the hero worship that often devolves in cultishness; the sniping; the high-schoolish haterism. But there’s also a lot that’s cool and interesting.

And the current web company boom doesn’t feel at all like a bubble. It feels more like a strong economy, and a well-monetized market with low barriers to entry. But it’s delivering real value, not just “tulips,” and the money is real, too.

]]> By: Joe Grossberg http://www.rluxemburg.com/2007/12/09/once-bubbled-twice-shy/#comment-1721 Joe Grossberg Mon, 10 Dec 2007 01:34:09 +0000 http://www.rluxemburg.com/2007/12/09/once-bubbled-twice-shy/#comment-1721 Heh. My Bubble 1.0 company (ZeniMax Media) *didn't* look people in the eye when they laid people off. Douglass Frederick, the boss of the division (Vir2L) I left a few months earlier, didn't show up until late that day and left it to the IT department to explain to (former-) employees why they couldn't log in or use their keycards any more. Heh. My Bubble 1.0 company (ZeniMax Media) *didn’t* look people in the eye when they laid people off. Douglass Frederick, the boss of the division (Vir2L) I left a few months earlier, didn’t show up until late that day and left it to the IT department to explain to (former-) employees why they couldn’t log in or use their keycards any more.

]]>