It's 1998 all over again.
Though the markets are a lot more sane, there's still a lot of money going around, blowing up the valuation of startup companies beyond any proportion to their potential value. Other phenomenas include companies that would not have gotten a dime out of VCs two years ago suddenly securing a few million dollars so they can continue being opportunistic and seek out a real business plan.
I developed a theory about companies that you want to stay away from, at least as an employee or partner (if you're a VC, no need to read on - VCs have other considerations in their agenda many times). It is just a rule of thumb theory, and every rule has its exceptions, but one thing I learned from recent bubbles is to stay away from any company the follows the SSEWAM strategy. Don't Google for it - it's a term I just made up.
SSEWAM stands for Someone Stupid Enough Will Acquire Me.
Ever met a company with such a strategy? Sometimes they wouldn't flat out spell it, but you'd be able to tell it's a SSEWAM company by the explanation you get from the founders on how well their idea fits with the strategy of X company (say, Google). Another thing that you'll sometimes get from these guys is a bunch of examples on latest acquisitions that were done on companies having similar idea/business.
What would be most suspicious is when you get that kind of answer as a response to a question like "how will you make money?". Simple question ain't it?
I say, if you can't give me a straight 30 seconds answer on how you're going to make money, it means that you're still struggling yourself. The worst is to ask the "how will you make money" question and get back a response saying "what are you talking about? Just last week Yahoo acquired FoxyTunes for $XXXM, and our product is even better".
Not buying it (and neither is Yahoo). A company cannot have SSEWAM as an exit strategy. If you cannot explain how you're going to make your business successful on its own, how you're going to build a product or service, and sell it while making a profit, then guess what - Yahoo wouldn't waste what's left of their money on you.
In short, my friends, when you start your companies, make sure that someone will pay you money for using your products (and no, VCs don't count as someone, unless you just built a product for managing VC firms). Your company as a whole is usually worth nothing, if you can't sell your products, and even make profits from it.
Just my take.
