“Irrational exuberance” Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan first uttered the phrase in 1996, describing what he considered an alarming economic trend. The rise of home internet usage was spurring several investors to stake digital claims like an online Oklahoma land run. Tech companies sprang up overnight, each hoping to

I moved to San Francisco in 2002, a time I like to call “between gold rushes.” The fervor and swagger of the first dot com boom had not so much burst as it had flown around the city like a balloon with the air let out, taking down everything it crashed into. San Francisco had ridden the dot com monster into the 21st century on a wave of optimism and massive change, and not unlike the original gold rush that created this place, more than just a handful of people ended up with obscene wealth. And then like anything too good to be true, it ended with a whimper, causing those who hadn’t managed to strike a vein of digital ore, left to pick up the pieces and create something of their own.