It feels The Same

THE BUBBLE BURSTS in 2001, 2008. It looks and feels the same in Silicon Valley.





















One website I often visit (www.SFGate.com) said that the Dot.Com bubble reached it "height" 9 years ago today. The Dow hit a then all time high. So in the last 9 years we have gone through two big bubbles.

The dot-com bubble

The housing bubble

The bursting of each has wreaked havoc in the valley. I have survived both. The dot-com bubble was mostly localized here in the SF Bay Area. Other geo area were effected but the cratering took place here. This latest bubble is more wide spread because it has to do with mortgages and housing. But here t feels just the same. Contract recruiters begin to lose work. They migrate, either leaving the area or looking at other ways of making money. Start ups can't get that next round of funding.

I rode through the first one. My company had gone public and I had a fairly big cash injection so money wasn't an issue. I semi-retired and took 9 months off without fear. Eventually people started to call me asking me to come back inside and work. I became a consultant.

Folks forget that with 9-11 and Enron people were freaking. Here, in the valley, it looks the same.

A friend gets laid off. Their spouse has been out of work too. Hammer I told him. 5-10 new contacts a day. Don't get hung up on title and pay. Just get back in. A years passes. They are still out. Now the spouse is out. They may lose their home.

Foreclosure looms.

I held off giving any big advice. 5-10 contacts a day.

Hammer away. Hammer!