Silicon Valley is somewhat insulated from the recession because we simply refuse to accept bad news. Convenient as that is, every now and then we need to deal with people who live in reality, namely investors. While Menlo Park venture capitalists themselves may think that economic downturn is a fairy tale, their limited partners have a different opinion.

VCs are still making their rounds in the Valley, but they're demanding at least two forms of protection. The pill just doesn't cut it anymore. What I mean is that writing a social network for the tree squirrels living in your yard in Django is now only half of the picture. An actual business model beyond "get a bunch of traffic and get bought out by Google" is important.

No glove, no love.

Lean, Mean Money Makin' Machines Servin' Fiends

What's going to happen to scams like YCombinator? Paul Graham gives up $5,000 per founder, expecting them to develop a product in a couple of months. After that, you're going to need to either raise more money or sell the company. Investors are now advising their portfolio companies to cut their burn rate to weather the storm, so what does this mean for the entrepreneurs full of Paul Graham's seed?

Well, for starters, you're going to have to forget about that apartment in North Beach. In fact, you'll probably have to move to Oakland. That will be a good time to remember how tolerant and progressive you are.

Please Let It Die

This crisis is a welcome cleansing of the internet. One of the reasons that Uncov has returned is that I said long ago I would see this Web 2.0 thing run into the ground. There will be collateral damage, but fuck, it's going to be entertaining to watch.

Even if my project goes down with all the rest, I will be satisfied by watching the collapse of stupid shit on the web.