Marc Andreessen Says The '90s Dot-Com Bubble Startups Were 'All Right But Just Early'
Oct 29, 2014, 03:28 IST
Mike Nudelman/Business InsiderAndreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc AndreessenBillionaire investor Marc Andreessen thinks the startups from the late '90s dot-com bubble years would have worked better if they were founded now.
Speaking at the WSJD Live conference, Andreessen said many startup ideas have become sustainable businesses in recent years because of new technologies, like the smartphone.
For example, he said, food-delivery service Instacart is doing well now, while Kozmo, another food-delivery startup with the same idea, ran out of business in the late '90s. He said:
"I basically think all the ideas of the '90s that everybody had about how this stuff was going to work, I think they were all right, they were all correct. I think they were just early."
However, he did raise concerns over the growing number of startups with massive valuations, saying, it's "running a little warm." He also said the high cash burn rate of some of these startups is "getting out of hand."
Andreessen is one of the most influential and experienced investors/entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, having founded Netscape and Opsware in the '90s. Last month, he warned startups these days are burning too much cash and taking on too much risk, by tweeting, "When the market turns, and it will turn, we will find out who has been swimming without trunks on. Many high burn rate companies will VAPORIZE." Disclosure: Marc Andreessen is an investor in Business Insider.