Tech Town, NC

Marc Andreesson has a truly sunny post today about the outlook for startups in a post YHOO world. Some people are bemoaning the potential loss of a silicon valley stalwart that helped set the playful tone for companies that came after it, especially one that did so much for the advancement of exclamation points in corporate america. Fear not, says Andreesson.

Marc is well-placed to provide some perspective on these machinations, so when he says this could help startups in the long run, he has a reason. It’s true that Yahoo was a big potential acquirer for many startups in the Valley (or elsewhere), but when you look at the numbers you see that they have only snatched up a handful of companies. Yahoo has loomed larger in the imaginations of entrepreneurs than it has in the real world of M & A.

Of particular interest is Marc’s list of other companies that made acquisitions in the tech sphere in 2007. One point he makes here, which I’ve thought for some time, is that the most aggressive shoppers are more likely to be the traditional media companies playing catch up, as opposed to the tech savvy, somewhat cocky Googles of the world.