Darren Harper, head of analysis and editorial at Library House, argues that fears of a second dotcom bubble are unfounded.

Darren Harper, head of analysis and editorial at Library House, argues that fears of a second dotcom bubble are unfounded.

A lot of lessons were learnt when the dotcom bubble burst in 2000. At that time, there were a lot of great ideas, but not many households had broadband access.

Now, technology has caught up. Data transfer speeds are increasing, and there’s been an explosion in user-generated content.

There are dangers, though. One area worth watching is mobile internet, where there are still fundamental technical issues to be solved, such as the compatibility of browsers. It’s an interesting opportunity but not all of the pieces of the jigsaw are in place.

Another problem is that some companies are still concentrating very much on getting eyeballs on their sites as a route to raising advertising revenue. But how do you commercialise eyeballs? People expect advertising to be their entire business model, while ignoring other potential revenue streams.

So yes, there is a lot of enthusiasm and passion as entrepreneurs surge forward with great ideas. But having lived through the dotcom crash, investors are a lot more savvy than they were – and so are entrepreneurs.

The US shouts and gets a lot of attention, but Europe could be really strong in the web space: its creativity and cultural diversity may well help it change how the game is played.