Amid a downturn, tech companies may shift their focus from “gee-whiz” projects, like self-driving cars and metaverses, to truly useful products that make money
History shows that downturns are when the industry shifts focus from flashy novelties to things that are truly useful Tweets: @mims , @wsj , @mims , @jessefelder , @tunguz , @fosspatents , @jason_pontin , @mims , and @mims Tweets: @mims : Posit: The past decade of free money basically ruined tech. ‘Ruined’ in the sense that hundreds of billions were flushed down the toilet on experiments that shouldn't have been allowed to run as long as they did. 2/ @wsj : Goodbye moonshots, hello fundamentals. What the downturn means for America's biggest tech companies. https://www.wsj.com/... Christopher Mims / @mims : Many of the companies that are big now were born just after busts past. Many of the technologies we most rely on saw their fastest deployment/adoption in the wake of busts past. This bust will be no different. Tech is “boring” again. Good. https://www.wsj.com/... Jesse Felder / @jessefelder : “Now more than at any other time in history it is time to invest in the real world.” https://www.wsj.com/... Bojan Tunguz / @tunguz : Boring is the new normal. With their valuations and earnings down, America's tech companies now have to be brutally honest with themselves about what really works. via @WSJ @mims https://www.wsj.com/... Florian Mueller / @fosspatents : Evolution not revolution—good for investors, but the seemingly impossible only materializes because someone does it against all odds. For the #Metaverse aspirations of @EpicGames this is good news: they have a profitable foundation on which to build, will have less competition. https://twitter.com/... Jason Pontin / @jason_pontin : VCs like me still argue that. Constraints impose discipline; the constraints are instantiated in the rounds of VC, which get progressively bigger as the company runs its killer experiments and “retires the risk” (in the jargon). Big rounds, too soon, corrupt the whole process. https://twitter.com/... Christopher Mims / @mims : 🧵 Why the absolute bloodbath for the valuations of big tech companies — and the chill in the startup funding climate — is actually a good thing. https://www.wsj.com/... Christopher Mims / @mims : As long ago as 2015, experienced venture capitalists like @rabois and @bgurley were warning that ridiculous valuations and limitless money ruin discipline in companies and dilute talent that would better be concentrated in fewer bets. 3/ https://www.wsj.com/...