I was just a toddler when the original tech bubble was growing. I remember when we got our first home computer in the early nineties void of an internet connection but filled with hours of endless enjoyment on MS Paint. Then came dial-up internet which opened up a vast expanse of information connecting millions around the world... until mom picked up the phone crashing my intense 90s internet session.
Those were the days... Stocks skyrocketing $50-$100 in a matter of hours. Day traders were pouring into the fresh computer tech market. Millionaires were popping up overnight with stories about how they had made a ton of money on the stock market. It was easy to buy stocks then because hundreds of companies were going public. Do some research, choose the company, invest and pray that it goes up... which most of the time it did.
Until it didn't anymore. The bubble deflated slowly and the stock markets plummeted until no air filled the bubble anymore. Some lucky people foresaw the crash and got out early while others broke even or sustained a solid loss. Investors are always on the lookout for a huge payout but they need to be prepared for the worst.
While in the past investments came largely from the general public interested on making a few bucks on the back of a public company; today we see a bubble with investments from the private sector in small tech companies and apps. Take Steemit for example: they had an "Angel" investor to set them up. The rest of Steemit's investments comes from users and our contributions to the platform.
The future bubbles of the tech industry will rely heavily on networked individuals investing together as a whole into a company requiring their active involvement in order to be successful. We see this internally in companies like Uber who rely on their user base to drive the profitability of the business; such is the case for Airbnb and Aliexpress. We are seeing this highly successful business model surfacing frequently and Steemit shows that it can be done through the blockchain with little regulation by banks or governments.
A new bubble is about to form. One that will likely get bigger than anything we've seen before. Let's be ready to ride up and get out at the opportune time. We've been through it before and we've learned from our mistakes. Bitcoin's peak in 2013 was nothing compared to what is in store for us in the near future.