'Son of Bubble' Comes of Age

It's an ironic entry, given that only 10 months ago Hornik caused a small controversy by daring to be one of the first to publish those very words -- Bubble 2.0 -- that are now on everyone's lips. At that time, nobody wanted to hear that phrase.

To hear it from the blogosphere, the TechCrunch shindig was Web 2.0's version of Truman Capote's black-and-white ball. (Actually, taupe-and-khaki winefest is probably more accurate.) But the next morning, after the party photos were uploaded and the buzz a little less engorged, everyone woke up with the same realization: A bubble is coming.

"You know, what's the deal with these parties? They are getting to be media events, that's all," wrote Robert Scoble, the ex-Microsoft (MSFT Quote - Cramer on MSFT - Stock Picks) evangelist who writes the Scobleizer blog. "Don't worry about missing these. They are just great ways to collect business cards and meet the hot geeks. The bubble is back!"

Blogger Guy Kawasaki, a former evangelist at Apple , wrote: "If I got $1 for every time I heard 'Web 2.0,' I would not have to work anymore."

You get the idea. Still, in the ever-bizarre world of Web 2.0, the current era of the Internet's second, more collaborative, generation, it may be that Kawasaki is onto a promising business plan.

Why do a few West Coast bloggers complaining about a party cum media event matter to investors? First, because it's the real business of these writers to spot trends before anyone else does. Second, because they're talking about a bubble that this time is in the venture capital industry but hasn't spread to the public market -- yet.

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