The recession comes to Silicon Valley
It was just a matter of time. Silicon Valley, which has remained largely impervious to the increasingly global economic downturn, is starting to feel the strain, according to The New York Times. It's not that housing prices are in freefall (they're not) or that people are being laid off en masse (they're not), but rather that the exit opportunities have largely dried up. According to the Times:
During the first three months of the year, only five companies backed by venture capital investors went public on Wall Street...That is down from 31 in the fourth quarter of last year, and is roughly the same level as at the nadir of the dot-com bust.
There was also a sharp falloff in the acquisition of start-up companies by bigger corporations...There were only 56 acquisitions in the first three months of the year, down from 83 in the fourth quarter.
With those options increasingly off the table, investors must spend money and time nurturing--or altogether salvaging--existing companies rather than building new ones.
I guess Oracle has already acquired everybody. :-)
Open-source investments are at an all-time high, but let's not kid ourselves. Open-source companies may be better suited to thrive in a down market, but their stockholders still want exits.
Perhaps this just means that open-source companies will need to take longer to grow their businesses. Perhaps it means that we'll see a few crack $100 million without being acquired.
Regardless, I can't help but feel that much as I like winning, I'd prefer that all software companies were doing well right now, both in their businesses and in their exits. The software industry will be a drag if all we can eke out is a few exits per year.
Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay. 
You mean companies might actually have to have a business plan that includes running a business. I'm all agog!
Most of Silicon Valley is the equivalent of house flipping, take an idea, put a fresh coat of paint, and parade it out in front of big companies and investors for a big payout. We see where real estate speculation ended up and it's high time the same thing happened the Valley.
Maybe we will see actual products instead of hype.
One can only hope.
You should understand that just because you have a good product doesnt mean it will sell. HYPE sells and thats the bottom line. I would like to see the best product win all the time but thats not the case.
In sales and business its who can ******** the most and get away with it.