Why I Don’t Buy Into The Web 2.0 Death

by Jason Wilk on October 10, 2008

Just a comment I have been posting around the web to those who have jumped ship on Web 2.0

  • I’m sorry but VC’s , angels, etc. are still going to be hedging their bets on what technology or business model is going to be next, whether or not the companies they are looking at have revenue. These VC’s are merely telling people to slow their burn rate, try and create revenue if possible and just keep things steady while the government sorts through its incompetent bullshit and things start settling. VC’s last week were saying ‘everything is all good and this is their time to shine’. Now, because BofA downgrades display advertising, Google yanks back their earnings, Apple gets shorted on retail, Yahoo continues to suck and Sequoia has a meeting, we all start to suffer? Sequoia is one of the few VC’s that has a major interest in public finance (Goole, Apple, Yahoo, and more). This downturn economy is hurting their fund, however the rest of the intelligent VC’s who don’t have public interest should and will be investing. Of course, they will be reccomending to startups that they spend less money on ping pong tables, PR and beer bongs to move through the crisis without the need to try and raise another round of financing. But this is not time for everyone to call it quits; that is ignorance. Yes, many of the strartups out there don’t deserve to live until tomorrow because they aren’t innovative, well recieved, profitable and just plain dumb, but the saavy investors who have a good tank and don’t rely on Joe Public are going to stick with it. I just don’t buy into that Web 2.0 is done. Web 2.0 is not Pets.com remix. It is innovation and it is not a phase, it’s still testing grounds for the future ahead.

A tiny opinion by Jason

VB

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  • jason
    Great point Ameeba.
  • Great post with many valid comments as well.

    There are too many doom & gloom mongerers out there for my liking. We all know that there will never be a slowdown / downturn in innovation!! What we need is for people to re-educate themselves on more important things. We need to work on how to get to 'funding 2.0' and 'spending money properly 2.0' which are just as important for people to get right.
  • reso
    Another thing to note is the generalization that is made on all the economies. US and Europe are going through trouble, but there are many other countries where things are not bad and there are still large gaps to be filled (china, india..). There are enough opportunities and this is the time to take the plunge and capture the market and build a portfolio (when the bandwagon is looking the other way).
  • Jonathan
    I think what will happen is Web 2.0 will be realized for the craze it is, companies who actually have something real to offer will survive, but they are few and far between.

    The web is a wonderful medium for sharing information and shopping. It ends there. Some things, actually MOST things, require a real application dedicated to doing them and designed to do them well, which doesn't have the overhead of requiring a network connection or server.

    Having to do everything in my web browser does nothing but piss me off and make me go elsewhere for productivity. I will use the web for information, it stops there.
  • SherwinNero
    I agree with Jason. I don't think that web 2.0 is dead. It's just facing a minor setback due to the recent economic crisis. I also believe that web 2.0 is a solid base for what's to come; like semantic web. Which at the core is essentially a web 2.0 base.
  • Henrik Kryger Pallesen
    Of course nothing is dead, but timing is as crucial for the adoption of great ideas as the "greatness" in the idea in it self. And right now timing might just be very wrong for even the greatest ideas - unless you can implement your idea for free or out of your own pocket money.

    World class public companies trade for less than their book value, so why should our great ideas be appreciated any higher by the money men during the current turmoil.

    If you need funding (as my company does) I recommend you learn to hibernate as quickly as possible until the current financial winter thaws. Those that survive will probably come out stronger in the end.
  • Johhnnnnny
    You're right Allan. Innovation will make it through. It's too early for tech stocks to be tumbling, taking a bite out of the spirit of innovation.
  • Certainly different industries will suffer varying degrees from the economic downturn. The Web will keep changing and growing with time regardless of what you call it. Web 1.0, Web 2.0, Web 3.0, the Semantic Web - we're all collectively going to innovate or shape our companies and technology as we see fit according to our visions. Those who build great products and services will win regardless of the market environment.
  • mr. sin
    it's a great comment. I just added you to my rss for this one.
  • dotDavid
    It's true, anytime something supposedly big happens, a gigantic wave of hypers blow it out of proportion....not to say this isn't a time of serious financial uncertainty....but this is simply consistent with the web 2.0, blogging nature. I'm with Jason
  • Dale
    Everybody wants to be the first to point out the end of a trend.
  • JohnathanP
    Fuckin spot on. I'm sick of these band wagon pricks who are looking for Web 3.0. Web 2.0 is everything after Web 1.0, the first crack at the internet.
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