A headline at Forbes.com last week indicated rising layoffs at Silicon Valley start-ups that are said to foretell a "quiet summer" for venture capitalists. On the same day, an A1 story in the Wall Street Journal reported that “Highflying startups have been grounded, swiftly, by the new climate: layoffs, skeptical investors, an exodus of funds and the prospects of a valuation haircut.”
Such is life in relentlessly capitalistic northern California. Though California’s business climate is said to be going “socialist” by partisans who really should know better, the reality is that capitalism is practiced in California in ruthless fashion. As is well known, somewhere in the range of 90% of startups out there fail, and as evidenced by the report from the Journal, they’re quickly put on a tight leash by their investors as their short and long-term prospects begin to dim.
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