What the Bubble Got Right (2004)

Paul Graham argues that the Internet Bubble, though overvalued, was built on real trends that will matter more in the long run than its excesses. He recalls that while working at Yahoo in 1998 and 1999 he calculated a price of $12 per share when the stock traded around $200, and that the stock later lost 95% of its value after January 2000. He says the Bubble's core truths include early public listings as "retail VC," the Internet's large long-term effects, the rise of young founders, and the decline of formality, with nerds' focus on substance. He adds that the Internet lets good work reach people more directly than the old channels did.