Now it’s Twitter’s turn to be valued like a phone number, and it seems I’m not the only one thinking this is just a little OTT. Google’s Eric Schmidt says there are clear signs of a bubble. Great. Then he adds: “But valuations are what they are. People believe that these companies will achieve huge sales in the future.”
Isn’t that the point of bubbles? They’re based on valuations, and hopes, which people say are beliefs, and for some reason we accord these valuations the status of quasi-science. They are of course nothing of the sort. They are today’s guess, this minute’s emotional response, a numeric whim – surely that was the point of the GFC.
Let me apply another quote from my friend Gren. Twitter worth $10 billion, with the potential to grow into a $100 billion company? “That’s dumber than a box of hammers.” Or maybe not. At least with a hammer you can nail something down.
