Apart from the nutty valuations of the big-cap techs, the WSJ points out that the usual signs of tech bubbles are back:
“The goofy-names index, for example, is back near its previous high. Consider Orgoo Inc., which helps people organize all their Web communications. Or Zipidee Inc., a purveyor of “digital goods” such as cellphone ring tones. “Are these names of dogs or are they names of companies?” asks Kate Mitchell, a venture capitalist in Foster City, Calif.
The rate of odd-looking start-ups, too, is on the rise. One called Startup Schwag exists solely to deliver a monthly package of T-shirts and other goodies bearing logos of other tech start-ups. Rapper MC Hammer, known for 1990s hits like “U Can’t Touch This” and a 1996 bankruptcy filing, is chief strategy officer of an online-video start-up called DanceJam. PlaySpan Inc., a Web-gaming outfit that raised $6.5 million, boasted on its Web site that it had been founded by a fifth-grader.
Then there’s this familiar froth indicator: Some office landlords in Silicon Valley are again accepting stock in still-private start-ups in lieu of rent.”
This, too, will end badly. As it has in the past. And Kate, they are both.
Financial Reality 