Marksonland

Marc Andreesen writes that we're not in a bubble. I've noted in the past that this might be a bubble (and also that it might be a bubble that's built to last - ah the joys of being your own editor). Anyway, bubble shmubble, who cares what you call it. Times are good and that should mean one thing: free shrimp launch parties! So where are they?

During the last bubble (er, excuse me, period of exuberant times), I was living in NY slaving away at a law firm. Meanwhile, based on all the news reports from the time, the magazines, heck, even the stories from lawyers in my firm's San Francisco office, it seemed like there was a launch party for a new web site being thrown practically every day. Lavish stuff. Great venues, good food, drinks flowing - and this was a regular thing.

Being no dummy, I decide I need in on this free shrimp action fascinating world of the internet and new media. So I quit my lawyer job, packed up my stuff up and moved out to California. What happens as soon as I get here? Of course, the downturn. The bubble bursts and not only am I not getting my share of free food and booze, but everyone is left pretty much on their own to slog it through the long hard winter.

But my point is that I did that. I stayed through the down turn. Now we're back riding high! So where are my free shrimp the launch parties?? There's nary a one in sight? Here I'm reading that the internet advertising market has surpassed $7b in the first half of 2007 alone. Hello?? Web 2.0 companies with ad supported business plans? Why aren't you launching in style??

Wait? Google accounts for 40% of that money? Wow. Your not getting in on this action? And you decided that those launch parties never actually did a good job of launching companies? So now your marketing budget now goes to SEO consultants and traffic buys (i.e. Google)? Well, that sucks.

So in other words it turns out that in this latest period of exuberance, there are launch parties happening every day around here. Unfortunately though, given the distribution of the online ad spend, they're all at the Google-plex. Sadly, once again, I'm not invited. No wonder there's so much free shrimp in that place.