I was around as well and while tech financing is more sophisticated and mainstream, it feels like a similar cliff in regards to valuations - what are some of the nuances you see that separate these too time periods?

My grandmother wasn't using altavista in 2000. She is using chatgpt in 2025.

I was also around, and I concur.

NVDA has a P/E of 55, which is definitely elevated, but nowhere near the 230+ that CSCO had at that time. TO say nothing of SUNW.

The big AI labs are definitely losing money, but they're doing it on the back of tens of (rapidly growing) billions of dollars in ARR, versus the dot com e-commerce and portal flameouts who would go public on (maybe) a million in revenue, at best.

We also have large AI teams at FAANG who are being funded directly by the fat margins of these companies, whose funding is not dependent on the whims of VC, PE or public markets.

These times are not really comparable.

Tesla's P/E is at 177.04, a lot of other AI companies are private so we can't really say.

Teslas pe imbalance long predates the ai cycle so is not relevant.

I don't think Mark Zuckerberg salivating about data centers bigger than Manhattan is "nuanced." People gleefully predicting a 30% increase in national energy consumption strikes me as pretty darn exuberant.

Maybe you were in the handbasket for the .com boom, and more of an outsider this time around?

I am certainly much older now;-)

So my question to the youngsters in the handbasket:

Do you feel pure and completely untroubled for being part of something big that is certainly not going away anymore? Do you look into your future and see bright skies without the slightest hint of a cloud?

I did as well, and then we had a few layoff rounds after having "positive" results when the VC money dried out, and those that stayed like myself, had several months of delayed salaries.