A legend finds Silicon Valley depressing
Jim Clark, the man behind some of Silicon Valley's most hyped-up startups such as Netscape and Healtheon and myCFO (all now defunct/acquired/out of business depending on how you look at it) has this to say in a BusinessWeek interview:
I have been out of Silicon Valley for five or six years. I go there for board meetings, then I split. I find the place depressing.
Q: Why do you find it depressing?
A: There's nothing going on that's of interest. There are only very few things. It used to be a vibrant, happening place. I'm speaking pre-1995. Once Netscape went out and the place turned into rocketland, everything got so insanely out of whack -- salaries, demand for people, commercial real estate. It became an insane place. And now it's an insanely depressing place. Now it's in such a funk.
I guess Clark had nothing to do with the madness and the aftermath...hmm.
The New New Thing is one of the most entertaining business books ever written...which talks about the Netscape IPO being pushed forward so Clark could pay for his gargantuan sailing boat which was also a technical marvel.