California's olden goose is taking a break

USA Today: SAN FRANCISCO — Is tech in for a rude awakening this year after a magic carpet ride the past few years?

The numbers, and recent actions by once high-flying start-ups, would seem to suggest so.

Consider: Mega-rounds, defined as funding of more than $100 million for venture capitalist-backed companies, are in free fall. The rate of private start-ups attaining unicorn status — a valuation of at least $1 billion — are grinding to a crawl. Friday layoffs at tech start-ups, deemed Black Fridays, are increasing. Bellwether tech stocks such as Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon have been taking it on the chin.

"It's a time to recalibrate — so many companies can't burn extraordinary amounts of money forever," says Sunil Panel, co-founder of Sidecar, a pioneer in the crowded ride-sharing space that shuttered operations on Dec. 31.

Last year, Silicon Valley projected unbridled swagger. Today, "there is definitely an era of reckoning," says Chris Sacca, a venture investor with stakes in Uber and Twitter. "Reality is setting in."

What did Jerry brown imply in  his budget statement?  The recession  is coming and mandatory spending will melt the budget.  The four big techs are some 20% of the market, so pensions take a big whammy, and n ow we see it double back to hit state capital gains taxes.  Thd legislature in  California is pro-cyclical, to say the least.  They make promises to the world when  we see a bit of surplus, then  crash when  we get a slight down turn.