i haven't read the article yet, but i think its funny that you choose meebo as an example of something real. this is one of the many sites that i consider to be offering the exact opposite. there is no business plan (that i can imagine , unless theyre trying to build their own network). it is just a singular "tool" which has low barrier to entry and zero network effect. (im not discrediting it as a website, because its a great utility, but thats where it stops) i would say that if these guys get funded it will be directly because of the bubble.

I have to agree with Brandon. I think Meebo is an innovative idea, but calling it a "business" is really pushing it. Even if they plan to push a premium rollout, the only compelling reason to use it is if your company blocks chat clients. Well, they'll soon block Meebo too guys.

I really like what Meebo has done, but I'm surprised so many VC's are eager to invest in these companies that offer no real business potential, or are anything more than a fad. Let's see some companies that offer real value to more than just our little geek community - the rest of the Internet users won't find value in all this wizz-bang tagging, blogging, and web 2.0 buzz.

I also think Meebo is an example of the largess of Bubble 2.0. There is nothing differentiating about what they do. A little AJAX? They live at the mercy of the underlying networks who are likely working on their own similar offerings.

It may be worth remembering that it is not because a company is getting a lot of enquiries from VC firms that they will line up a bunch of termsheets.

Because of the competition on the funding market, firms have to look at startups as they emerge to figure out "if there is something". That does not mean that they will all make it through the funding process.

amen, good reminder... from my limited experience, it is their role to build relationships early in "just in case"

While there are signs of Bubble 2.0, a more important question every entrepreneur and VC should ask is what and how will it deflate? will it pop loudly followed by a major recession or leak slowly. Bubble 1.0 was deeply integrated into the stock market and spurred unreasonable expectations in the general IT and communications market, which in turn created further market froth in both stock and bond markets. When the irrationally exuberant speculators started to sober after realizing that the dot com stocks they bought were part of a pyramid scheme, their selling dominoed into a run on the stock market and the economy. Probably the most visible sign was the stock market crash, especially with the Nasdaq going from 5000 to 1200. Many IT companies, whose revenue came from the spend-happy startups and CLECs, were also punished heavily by the market. This created a huge psychological impact on an economy that indiscriminately shut off all POs and resources to many companies, especially the startups. Even the startups that had reasons to survive failed. So far this time around the stock market has not shown a sign of irrational exeuberance, yet. The startups have been frugal and not jacking up the revenue of SUNW, NT, WBVN, BEAS, etc. If we all act rationally, the bubble will only leak and the multitudes of me-too startups will die their natural death. But those startups worthy of existence will be able to IPO into a stock market not marred psychologically or acquired by the large public companies not undergoing restructuring.

Do you guys think http://bubble2.com could be a more profitable business than Meeboo?

Do you guys think http://bubble2.com could be a more profitable business than Meeboo?