New Books Network David Kirsch on the Dot Com Bubble and Bust
Apr 13, 2026
David Kirsch, a scholar of technology bubbles and professor at University of Maryland, combines firsthand Silicon Valley memories with historical research. He traces Netscape’s moment, how hype and manufactured demand inflated valuations, what infrastructural legacies survived, and how bubble narratives shape tech and AI today.
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A Bubble Needs To Pop To Be A Bubble
- Kirsch distinguishes a boom from a bubble by whether it bursts; a bubble requires an unsustainable overreaction and eventual pop.
- He links bubbles to loss of critical faculty, shared narratives, and many naive entrants making similar bets.
Equity Bubbles Hurt Less Than Leverage Bubbles
- The 1990s dot-com crash was less damaging because it was mostly equity-funded, not highly leveraged consumer debt.
- Kirsch contrasts this with the 2007–08 housing crash where leverage on homes amplified destruction across society.
How iBuilders Sold Manufactured Urgency
- Kirsch describes Scient as an 'iBuilder' that thrived by manufacturing urgency, billing VCs millions to build company websites.
- He collected Scient's records showing firms sold urgency until corporate buyers realized projects weren't urgent and valuations collapsed.
