Gold and silicon fever - what is common?

Since the days of the gold rush, little has changed in the assessment of high-risk enterprises. And now, one hundred and fifty years later, all in the same California now is the epicenter of silicon fever .





In the photo: San Francisco XIX century in our time.



The purpose of the post is to entertain the stern habrovchanin a little and look at the boom of startups through the prism of history, illustrating the similarities with old and new photos. It is possible that, having realized the cyclical nature, we will look more realistic at ourselves and at future prospects.



Like many years ago, stories about fabulously enriched lucky ones inspire hundreds of thousands of prospectors to search for prospecting . Everyone wants to become the owner of their own gold-bearing site "Facebook" and fabulously rich.

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In the photo: a wealthy gold miner with a huge piece of gold and Mark Elliot Zuckerberg with chicken.



And although everyone understands that most of the seekers will not earn anything other than prostatitis and scongiosis scurvy and insomnia, but at the same time everyone cherishes the hope that success will smile to him. As in the days of Jack London, only a few pairs of hands, a bit of adventurism and a couple of simple devices are required for launch.





In the photo: Californian miners with screens and modern guys with laptops.



Everything is actively developing, communities are emerging, more progressive technologists are being introduced, the associated infrastructure is being created.





In the photo: KlondikeCamp 1897. and StartUp Camp Switzerland 2012.



UPD 14:23 There are places for parties and socializing.





In the photo: a saloon in California and a modern Starbucks cafe.



UPD 14:26 Entrepreneurial people are enriched by the sale of related products and services.





In the photo: a store in Klondike and the latest DigitalShop.





Investors are going along the bones of the pioneers - pragmatically disposed people with real money. They buy up, invest in development in the early stages, hold and resell shares to large industrial companies.





In the photo: industrialist Martin Iten and entrepreneur Yuri Milner.



The next stage is the inevitable saturation and structuring of the market. The lion's share of the market belongs to large companies. Mining is carried out by industrial methods. Venture investments become less venture, large players survive, the trifle dies. Probably now we are one step away from this stage.





In the photo: the office of the mining company Anglo-American and the grandiose office of Google.



To some, this market now seems to be bottomless, and someone probably wants to believe in the future with even lighter and more voluminous venture capital investments. But bottomless markets do not exist, as well as non-limited investments. And after the explosive growth always follows the decline.





In the photo: the deserted town of Bodie prospectors and the restructuring of Skolkovo into the museum of the origin of the silicon era of 2050.



And now - 2013 is on the calendar, which means that now is the golden time for startups, the time of formation, the time to act, the time to build plots and create your own gold reserves. After all, gold is always in value.





In the photo: gold bars in H & B and in color.



Forge gold without departing from the cash register!



In anticipation of the coming year of the snake on the Chinese calendar, remember the wise Chinese proverb: " Everything changes, but remains the same "!



I wish you have time and succeed dear startups! Happy New Year!