{"id":31140,"date":"2022-05-31T22:08:22","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T22:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/its-doom-times-in-tech\/"},"modified":"2022-05-31T22:08:22","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T22:08:22","slug":"its-doom-times-in-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/its-doom-times-in-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s Doom Times in Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The tech industry is experiencing an earthquake.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The five biggest technology giants in the US have collectively lost more than $ 2 trillion of stock market value this year.  Across big and small companies, there are regular announcements of hiring slowdowns or layoffs, including at Facebook, Uber, Robinhood and the celebrity video app Cameo.  Start-up founders who were turning away eager investors a few months ago now must make an effort to get more money.  (Gasp.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The big unknown: Is this meltdown THE BIG ONE that will boot tech out of its position as the most dynamic and successful industry in the world?  Or, like many times in the decade-long technology boom, is this a temporary panic?<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I asked my colleague Erin Griffith, who reports on tech start-ups and venture capital, to assess the current moment of fear for technology.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Shira: Is this tech doom and gloom meaningful?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Erin: <\/strong>I go back and forth, because I&#8217;ve seen this cycle so many times.  Every couple of years for the past decade, anytime there were some wobbles in technology or moments of doubt, smart people predicted that the growth of the tech economy since the Great Recession couldn&#8217;t possibly last.  And each time, those predictions were wrong.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As recently as the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, technology investors thought a bunch of companies would be wiped out.  But within a few months, oodles of money flowed into all things tech, and values \u200b\u200bof companies went to the moon.  The past two years of tech money madness were like nothing I had seen before.  Now we&#8217;re hearing the warnings again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Shira: Sorry, but I have to ask: Is this time different?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Erin: <\/strong>Maybe.  We haven&#8217;t seen this combination of economic anxiety and high inflation before.  Economists are weighing the risks of a US recession, and companies in many industries are worried that their businesses are slowing.  During other uncertain moments for tech, there was not the same combination of economic stresses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And because there has been so much hype, growth and cash in technology since 2020, there might be a bunch of companies that aren&#8217;t worth anywhere close to what they were worth a year or two ago, and others were shaky to begin with and might not withstand a contraction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Shira: Has anything really changed?  Amazon, Zoom Video and the grocery delivery start-up <\/strong><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Instacart<\/strong><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">  are worth far less than they were six months ago, but are they worse companies?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Erin:<\/strong> Not really!  So far this has been more of a reset on what investors think these companies are worth.  But a changing mood does matter.  Fast growing start-ups in particular need the faith of investors, customers and employees to keep the momentum going.  If that forward progress stutters, it can kill companies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Shira: What signs are you watching for that might tell us if this tech meltdown might be more than temporary?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Erin: <\/strong>First, if more start-ups go bust overnight.  Recently, a payments company called Fast that was worth hundreds of millions of dollars ran into trouble and shut down relatively quickly.  If that keeps happening, it&#8217;s a sign that many of the so-called unicorns that we thought were built on solid ground might be at risk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And second is if the so-called \u201cgood\u201d companies start to feel the pain.  So far, the start-ups that have closed or announced significant layoffs are the ones that took big risks, burned through a bunch of money and assumed that investors would always be willing to give them more.  If start-ups that preached responsible spending and reasonable growth also pull back, that could be a sign that this time is different.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Shira: What might happen next?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Erin: <\/strong>The biggest question is how long the tech meltdown will last.  If within a few months, stock prices bounce back, investors start putting money into start-ups again and the market for initial public offerings unfreezes, the industry might be fine.  But if investors stay skittish for many months or years, that could lead to a major shake-up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The tech industry has basically been booming since the tail end of the recession in 2010. Now, it&#8217;s a large part of the economy.  We don&#8217;t know what will happen to this titanic and rich industry in a broad downturn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<hr class=\"css-7daw59 e1mu4ftr0\"\/>\n<h2 class=\"css-xactqe eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-652545a9\">Before we go &#8230;<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"css-1le37cb ez3869y0\">\n<li class=\"css-o74qhc eoqvrfo0\">\n<p class=\"css-1il0jfh evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Apple store showdown: <\/strong>My colleague Tripp Mickle reports why some workers at Apple stores are trying to unionize, and explains the company&#8217;s concerns about the labor movement.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"css-o74qhc eoqvrfo0\">\n<p class=\"css-1il0jfh evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">A Senate candidate&#8217;s single-issue message: <\/strong>A billionaire software executive is running for a Senate seat in California with one campaign issue: He believes that Tesla&#8217;s automated vehicle technology shouldn&#8217;t be allowed to operate on the roads.  In the On Politics newsletter, my colleague Blake Hounshell explains the motivations of Dan O&#8217;Dowd, the executive, who may be trying to send a message rather than win a political race.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"css-o74qhc eoqvrfo0\">\n<p class=\"css-1il0jfh evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">The magical alchemy behind a popular vampire video game:<\/strong> It&#8217;s tough to stand out among the many thousands of computer video games, but a small video game studio in Sweden has a hit game that puts players in the role of vampires fighting for survival, Bloomberg News reports. <em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">(A subscription may be required.)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"css-92uw3k e1gnsphs0\" id=\"link-1e910efa\"><span>Hugs to this<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Meet a very good dog that is exceptional at <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sehnaoui\/status\/1088190345781960712\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\">eating shredded cheese<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"css-7daw59 e1mu4ftr0\"\/>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">We want to hear from you.  Tell us what you think of this newsletter and what else you&#8217;d like us to explore.  You can reach us at <\/em><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">ontech@nytimes.com.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">If you don&#8217;t already get this newsletter in your inbox, <\/em><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">please sign up here<\/em><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">.  You can also read <\/em><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">past On Tech columns<\/em><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The tech industry is experiencing an earthquake. The five biggest technology giants in the US have collectively lost more than $ 2 trillion of stock market value this year. Across big and small companies, there are regular announcements of hiring slowdowns or layoffs, including at Facebook, Uber, Robinhood and the celebrity video app Cameo. Start-up &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/its-doom-times-in-tech\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">It&#8217;s Doom Times in Tech<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2022\/06\/22\/business\/22OnTech-Griffith-NL\/22OnTech-Griffith-NL-facebookJumbo.png?ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2022\/06\/22\/business\/22OnTech-Griffith-NL\/22OnTech-Griffith-NL-facebookJumbo.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31140"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}