Experts differ on the future of Internet-based businsses
Are we in yet another Internet bubble that’s about to burst? Depends whose opinion you get.
The Wall Street Journal Online interviewed two tech, media and Internet (dot-com era, and current market participants) veterans, Tod Dagres of Spark Capital and David Hornik of VentureBlog.
Dagres says there are similarities between the last ‘bubble’ and the current online businesses with no revenue model. "There’s far too much money chasing Web 2.0 deals" he said
Hornik holds the opposite view. While he agrees that the first bubble was the result of too many businesses without a solid revenue model, he told WSJ "Venture capitalists will rationally stop investing in ideas that don’t bear fruit. Those that do bear fruit will gain traction and either be acquired or go public."
"Whether it is called ‘Web 2.0’ or ‘New Media’ or ‘Enterprise 2.0,’ Internet services are going to drive the world’s economies for the foreseeable future. To me that doesn’t spell bubble, that spells opportunity," says Hornik.
That makes sense to me. The Internet is not going to disappear. It has become a vital tool for businesses and people who want to find information. I don’t plan to drive to the reference library when I can go online and find all the information I want – right on my desktop.
Technology is a time saver and a productivity tool. Web 2.0 ideas that offer useful tools will find users.
However, there is unlikely to be a profit and loss 2.0. Making a profit will always be the bottom line.
See Also
- The Web 2.0 Entrepreneur Bubble
It?s ?so easy? to start a new Web company these days on a server and a song - Bubble 2.0
It’s not hard to see how changes in the online environment will affect your business sooner or later (and my money’s on sooner
