“A quarterly index of Bay Area business confidence has registered its first positive reading in two years. But the brighter outlook captured in a survey being released today by the Bay Area Council may not halt layoffs or spur widespread hiring in the short term.”
∙ Bay Area Council survey shows confidence is up [SFGate]
Yes, business confidence is up, up up, the survey just says hiring won’t follow.
But then there’s this from the Wall Street Journal, Page A15B:
How harsh has Silicon Valley’s start up shake out of 2009 been compared with the dot com bust of 200-01?
This time, the damage from the recession has been widespread rather than confined to technology. But this time, companies have hoarded their cash. Sherwood partners has shut down only 55 companies so far. However, funding is even harder to come by now than during the dot com bust. Venture investing was 14.6 Billion during the first three quarters of the year compared with about twice as much during the same period in 2001. Sherwood projects shutting down 150-200 of its own start ups next year. A total of 200-250.
How many did they shut down during the dot com bust: 99.
So although companies have hoarded their cash, 1) the problems are yet to come and 2) they aren’t spending as much into the economy, making the problems much wider spread.
Also from the same article
‘As a result, venture capitalists such as Promod Haque at Norwest Venture Partners argue that “we’re not seeing the kinds of [start-up] shutdowns we saw in 2000 in terms of the volume.”‘
I’d also like to see the percent of shutdowns for Sherwood. Sure, they might expect to see a total of 200-250. What percent of their total portfolio is that compared to 2000? Raw numbers are kind of useless.