Here comes another bubble - bubble economics

Here Comes Another Bubble...a painfully funny video about Bubble 2.0. created by Richter Scales. Mike Arrington (pictured below), founder of TechCrunch makes a cameo appearance in the video.

Richter Scales, is a non-profit singing group in Silicon Valley. What makes it funny is that it is all true, yet people inside the bubble don't see. The video starts with Peter Thiel (Paypal) saying "There is absolutely no bubble in technology".

Some of the lyrics are priceless...

"Thought I had the perfect plan, took the job at WebVan"

"Suffered through the market crash, lost a giant wad of cash"

"Make your elevator pitch, code it up and flip the switch"

There are a lot more nuggets in the video. Take two minutes and watch it. It will make you smile...and perhaps rethink your investments.

A reader reminded me of a post I wrote earlier this year on bubble economics entitled "I'll Trade My Two $50K Cats For Your $100K Dog". Given the astronomical bubbl-flation I should edit the title to "Two $5M Cats For Your $10M Dog". This post explains how bubble acquisitions acquired with bubble inflated stock have no cash impact to the company, but they certainly do dilute existing shareholders. In the last bubble the impact was devastating.

In case you are scratching your head about the dogs and cats reference, here is the relevant passage;

I grew up in Maine, and I am reminded of the negotiations between two farmers from Maine at the county fair. One farmer was showing off his "blue ribbon" dog and proposing to sell it for $100,000. The other farmers were laughing hysterically at the idea of a $100K dog. Dogs don't produce income. How could a dog be worth $100K? Then one farmer stepped up and offered to trade two of his $50,000 cats for the $100K dog. The dog owner quickly agreed and bragged to all his friends how he sold his dog for $100K.

Enjoy the video...and the bubble while it lasts :-)

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Comments

[jc]

So, what creates a bubble? A lack of focus on business models combined with easy money? Can all technology advancements be driven by ad supported sites? Every "startup" has a free product. How can anyone stay in business with a free product? This brings me back to the current inflation in google adwords. There has been some major bid up on the prices of adwords to the point that I do not bother and have searched for alternatives to adwords for targeting customers. What group of technology companies are the biggest bubble waiting to pop?
Ad supported sites?