Is Silicon Valley coming back?

March 19, 2002 4:21 AM

Is Silicon Valley coming back? Newsweek's cover story this week is the return of Silicon Valley after the Bust of 2000, start-ups and all. Does this new round of hype have any morsels of truth to it?
posted by costas (3 comments total)

Sure, there's a morsel of truth. Everyone is more risk-averse now, and like the article says: You can't get funding for a crappy company anymore. This is good because what your Loudcloud and BBO-type companies needed was far more scrutiny. The net result will be fewer failures.

If I had read this article a few months ago, I'd say that more of the firms would remain private this time, but I continue to be amazed at the upward march of the stock market.

I wish some of that entreprenurial spirit would return to Fairfax County. If you aren't a geek with a perfect resume AND a top-secret clearance, you won't be able to find a job here. Silicon Valley may be recovering, but I'm sure not seeing it here in the land of collapsing Telcos.
posted by astrogirl at 5:35 AM on March 19, 2002

astrogirl - I hear you (D.C., here). I'm now working at a university, talk about cutting edge.

Seriously, though - I refused to move to the west coast throughout the late 90's, thank god, but if Woz wanted to hire me I would be there in a Palo Alto minute. And I'm not even a Mac person.
posted by GriffX at 7:06 AM on March 19, 2002

That's ok, Spook Valley (ie. Fairfax county) is likely to recover far ahead of the Seattle market. What with Boeing packing up and moving away (and they are a huge employer) and even the healthcare business faltering, this market will remain depressed likely longer than much of the rest of the country.
posted by shagoth at 7:11 AM on March 19, 2002