Pop.
With Adam Smith’s oft-lauded “invisible hand” giving investors the invisible finger and the world economy reeling from what the International Monetary Fund just labeled the most dangerous shock to the financial markets since the 1930s, the healthy optimism and patient money for which the venture capital world has long been known are fast turning into a querulous hopelessness. To wit, the emergency gathering held at Sequoia Capital this week. It’s purpose: to prepare the firm’s portfolio companies for a protracted downturn.
There is no good news right now, it seems. The bubble is burst.
“It’s pretty clear that demand is going to soften across the board for every company–it doesn’t matter if you’re selling to consumers or companies,” Sequoia Capital partner Michael Moritz told the Financial Times earlier this week. “[Many start-ups that emerged in the recent boom will end up] spattered on windshields and radiator grills and be forgotten.”
[Image Credit: Audiophile & Synergy Industries]
PREVIOUSLY:
- Google’s New Corporate Philosophy: “You Can Lose Money Without Doing Evil”
- Wall Street: Way Down in the Hole
- Analyst: The Great Dark Times Cometh!
- Wall Street: Give Me Something to Stop the Bleeding
- GOOG at $398? Clearly, You’re Dyslexic
- WaMu: Epic Bail
- Ballmer: Better Safe Than Lehman Bros.
- Lehman Brothers: $2.5 Billion for a Bankruptcy Well Done
- Here’s $39 Billion in Recognition for Your Hard Work on the Forthcoming Financial Crisis
- Weekend at Bernanke’s II
- Weekend at Bernankes