Memories...
Today is a special day in the history of tech and money... 4 years ago today, the NASDAQ celebrated it's highest high... $5,048.62. The day before was the day it had closed above 5000, and I remember the celebration and general glee amongst those in the market at the time. I was a Senior in college, no doubt working on my two big projects for my graduation requirements. I was a little bit fatter, a little more hair on my head... Life was full of lofty aspirations, intellectual discussions with peers and professors. I was a 'big man' in class, others would come to me for help, and I was happy to provide it. My new friends and I would try to make the most of our few remaining weeks, as we shared the details of job prospects or upcoming interviews. John had left school three months earlier to take what we considered at the time to be a dream job. We were young and naive about the world. We all believed in AD driven revenue and support-based business plans. The world was about services, not products... but the products that were out, were the stuff of dreams... Portable MP3 players had just been invented (now bigger and better than ever), geeks were experimenting with the first in car computers (now a dealer option), We could find any song we wanted off of Napster (now just a shadow of it's former self), people were getting paid $20/week just to surf the web and look at advertisements, Yahoo! could hit $300/share? Sure it could... Times were different, we made money differently. For better or for worse, I am glad to have been where I was at the times I was there. Sure I miss my telecommute days, or the on site starbucks, or the general feeling of importance... But I am certain that brighter days are on the horizon.