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Ask HN: What was it like when dot-com bubble collapsed during 2000-2002?

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Re: Ask HN: What was it like when dot-com bubble collapsed during 2000-2002?

#21

Post by thecupisblue »

dsw108 wrote: post #17

People say there is a bubble, but Marc Andreessen is right that the situation is completely different now. When we started in 1998, our whole startup was on one dialup line, as a T1 was really expensive. We had to take turns downloading files. This was in San Mateo, California, not the middle of nowhere. The sysadmins once put out a request to the developers one time to physically show up and help move all of the ser…

> Now everybody is connected

> As Marc points out, all the stupid ideas from the bubble all work now

This is the thing I try to explain to people when they talk about bubble. Back then, Internet was this weird new thing. Now, it's as much a part of our daily lives as eating food.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like when dot-com bubble collapsed during 2000-2002?

#22

Post by MandieD »

Eagerly taking the sort of Beltway Bandit contracting job that we had mocked in 1999 when I graduated in 2002. Windowless basement in a '70s government building in suburban Maryland with the office furniture the government employees had rejected, writing and tracking Java unit tests, and I was deliriously grateful.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like when dot-com bubble collapsed during 2000-2002?

#23

Post by itamarst »

dsw108 wrote: post #17

People say there is a bubble, but Marc Andreessen is right that the situation is completely different now. When we started in 1998, our whole startup was on one dialup line, as a T1 was really expensive. We had to take turns downloading files. This was in San Mateo, California, not the middle of nowhere. The sysadmins once put out a request to the developers one time to physically show up and help move all of the ser…

So because 10 years later the business models worked, the dot-com bubble doesn't count? All those failed companies didn't happen, all those jobs weren't lost?

We have same human nature, same economic system as back then. Crashes will happen, people will lose their jobs, and "this time is different" is just another symptom of a bubble.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like when dot-com bubble collapsed during 2000-2002?

#24

Post by itamarst »

Dot-com I worked for went down hard. Sysadmin was reading management's email and telling people in advance they were going to get fired. Went from massive office to nothing in just a few months.

Practical advice: save money and live below your means. This will let you survive the next bust, whenever it happens, much better. It will also help you survive a non-systemic layoff, and will help you find better jobs... it's pretty much always a good idea.

https://codewithoutrules.com/2016/08/08/living-below-your-me...

Re: Ask HN: What was it like when dot-com bubble collapsed during 2000-2002?

#25

Post by throwawaybbq1 »

johngalt wrote: post #18

By 2000 everyone knew there was going to be a big correction. Few accurately imagined how big. It was like going to the doctors because you knew something was 'a little off' and finding out that you were going to die in three months. Then talking to all your friends and realizing that everyone you knew had the same disease. Initially many thought it would be similar to the early 90s recession. I.E. A few layoffs with…

Your cohort point is particularly insightful. I had just started my career in 1999 .. I had a bad feeling about the situation and went to grad school right away (after a year). Was a good move at the time because a year or two after I started, good programs had a crazy number of applicants (which of course, raises the bar to get in). Other than the grad school crowd and people who braved unemployment, what did these professionals do? Get out of tech completely?

Btw ... love the hn handle :)

Re: Ask HN: What was it like when dot-com bubble collapsed during 2000-2002?

#26

Post by psyc »

A number of colleagues had become rich very quickly and "retired". When the bubble burst, I realized that the money rush was over, and my lotto number had not been drawn. However, within 2 years, most of those colleagues were selling their sports cars and looking for work again.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like when dot-com bubble collapsed during 2000-2002?

#27

Post by throwawaybbq1 »

itamarst wrote: post #24

Dot-com I worked for went down hard. Sysadmin was reading management's email and telling people in advance they were going to get fired. Went from massive office to nothing in just a few months. Practical advice: save money and live below your means. This will let you survive the next bust, whenever it happens, much better. It will also help you survive a non-systemic layoff, and will help you find better jobs... it'…

The biggest issue right now is rents. I have 2-3 friends who just signed 1 year leases for north of 3K for 1 bedrooms. My own evil apartment complex (shitty place but Mountain View so what can you do) raised my rent and said I could go back to the lower one if I sign another lease. While your advice is sage, it isn't practical.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like when dot-com bubble collapsed during 2000-2002?

#28

Post by fundabulousrIII »

It was shit. You took pay cuts to stay on a job or you left the field. Personally I worked through it but it was not fun and eventually had to leave the position anyway. Adrift in 2003 and thankfully late 2004 showed up and government started hiring contractors. Otherwise I would be making 40K a year teaching PE at a middle school.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like when dot-com bubble collapsed during 2000-2002?

#29

Post by rhexs »

throwawaybbq1 wrote: post #27
itamarst wrote: post #24

Dot-com I worked for went down hard. Sysadmin was reading management's email and telling people in advance they were going to get fired. Went from massive office to nothing in just a few months. Practical advice: save money and live below your means. This will let you survive the next bust, whenever it happens, much better. It will also help you survive a non-systemic layoff, and will help you find better jobs... it'…

The biggest issue right now is rents. I have 2-3 friends who just signed 1 year leases for north of 3K for 1 bedrooms. My own evil apartment complex (shitty place but Mountain View so what can you do) raised my rent and said I could go back to the lower one if I sign another lease. While your advice is sage, it isn't practical.

If you aren't making enough money to save in Mountain View, perhaps consider relocating to anywhere else in the country?

I'm guessing you have some other budgeting issues?

Re: Ask HN: What was it like when dot-com bubble collapsed during 2000-2002?

#30

Post by fundabulousrIII »

dsw108 wrote: post #17

People say there is a bubble, but Marc Andreessen is right that the situation is completely different now. When we started in 1998, our whole startup was on one dialup line, as a T1 was really expensive. We had to take turns downloading files. This was in San Mateo, California, not the middle of nowhere. The sysadmins once put out a request to the developers one time to physically show up and help move all of the ser…

Who buys their own servers now? Well that is funny in a sad way. You may be looking at this in ten years and hopping to another lily pad.

Anyone who needs 4 9's or better has some kind of hardware presence even if they are heavily invested in the cloud. Full stack (hardware->development) SAs are a vanishing breed but I am one of them. I can spend 24k a year on colo with 150K invested in hardware and beat the hell out of cloud providers long term...for now.

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