Byte and Switch: How do startups know how much they are worth these days?
Baldwin: Good question. Working out valuations is something of a black art. You look at the revenue momentum and the prospects for the market the company is in. Its no more difficult than working out public company valuations... You talk to sell-side analysts, look at revenue, prospects. But its not a guarantee -- look at the swing in EMC's stock price. It seems to have changed some.
Byte and Switch: Aye! Just a wee bit. [Ed. note: EMC is down from $80 at the start of 2001 to about $6.70 today.]
Byte and Switch: Has the bubble burst for storage networking, or are there still opportunities to invest in this sector?
Baldwin: Being the fifth company chasing Pirus is not a good idea. We look for investments not connected to hype-driven opportunities. In times of downturn, we want companies that are at cash-flow breakeven point and generating sales. Those that can dip into working capital are an ideal setup; this way, they can take care of themselves. The idea is to have a bunch of these lined up on the shelf that could become IPOs.
To realize the benefits of cloud-native software, an application must actually be cloud-native—designed to run in the cloud, interacting with disaggregated cloud services, fully manageable as code—to deliver the expected benefits.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
