Updated
Tech stocks are plunging and venture capitalists are telling their startups to hunker down for an extended downturn, but a group of Silicon Valley techies still found time for a nice little retreat to Cyprus. They also produced this amusing video set to Journey’s classic song “Don’t Stop Believing.”
Among those featured are Facebook platform manager Dave Morin, Facebook product designer Aaron Sittig, Drop.io founder Sam Lessin and Blip.tv founder Mike Hudack.
Is it just me, or does the video (first spotted by Silicon Alley Insider) scream “frat party”? Look, I don’t begrudge overworked tech types their vacations. Heck, the Saturday after AIG and Lehman Brothers collapsed, I got on a plane to Martha’s Vineyard. And I don’t agree with bloggers who say Silicon Valley has been living on a bubble, thinking it won’t be affected by the crash. But posting videos of your fun Cyprus vacation — on a public site, even if it wasn’t meant for wide distribution — while the market crumbles is a classic facepalm moment. It plays into that stereotype. The sight of startup executives goofing off in bathing suits while carrying around giant cans of beer reinforces the idea that Silicon Valley needs adult supervision.
Then again, maybe I’m just cranky because all the cool kids forgot to send me an invite.
Update: Looks like they’ve made the video private, but the genie is already out of the bottle – the video is now up on YouTube, and I’ve embedded it below. To be honest, I felt like a little sheepish when I saw the video had become private, but I do think it does have a larger cultural significance/symbolism. TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington did a great job of boiling down why the video was worth writing about:
They leave behind an absurd video that would have gone unnoticed a month ago. But this week, with the walls tumbling down, they look like a bunch of jackasses who have no idea what’s going on back at home. And this video will always be associated with the end of Web 2.0.
12:39 pm
Was bedeutet die globale Finanzkrise für das Web 2.0? « c/o operative said:
[...] notwendige Ende von Web 2.0 aus, bedingt durch ein Versiegen des Risikokapitals und markiert durch ein ignorantes Video einiger selbstverliebter Silicon Valley Douchebags, (das inzwischen von Netz genommen [...]
5:52 pm
Fact check: bloggers divide into negative and positive camps said:
[...] a lot of discussion around the video of startup founders and employees partying in Cyprus earlier this week. The negative line is that while Rome burns, these people were living it up. The positive says that [...]
2:13 pm
Web Kidz put stop to 'Believing' video said:
[...] So when the video of the bathing-suited vacationers was discovered, it quickly became too perfect a symbol of Nero fiddling while Rome burns. Or as VentureBeat put it, “Silicon Valley lip-synchs while market burns.” [link] [...]
2:09 am
We Didn’t Start the Fire - Mashable said:
[...] don’t blame my fellow 20-something tech bambinos for striking the match that burned down our money-tree [...]
3:31 am
We Didn’t Start the Fire »TechAddress said:
[...] don’t blame my fellow 20-something tech bambinos for striking the match that burned down our money-tree [...]
4:02 am
We Didn’t Start the Fire | World News said:
[...] don’t blame my fellow 20-something tech bambinos for striking the match that burned down our money-tree [...]
5:02 pm
We Didn’t Start the Fire said:
[...] don’t blame my fellow 20-something tech bambinos for striking the match that burned down our money-tree [...]
4:33 am
Het Ministerie van de Menigte » Blog Archive » Crisis 2.0 said:
[...] is er in de scene een beetje opschudding ontstaan over het filmpje dat door hippe internet entrepreneurs werd gemaakt tijdens een gezellig samezijn op Cyprus, midden [...]