Interviews: Ask Larry Augustin What You Will

Former chairman of VA Software and venture capitalist, Larry Augustin, co-founded VA Research in 1993 and was one of the driving forces behind the creation of Sourceforge. VA bought Andover.net in 2000, acquiring a number of media sites, including Slashdot. He serves on the board of several companies and is currently the CEO of SugarCRM. Larry has agreed to take some time and answer your questions about the world of venture capital, open source software, and surviving the dotcom bubble. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one question per post

Dear Larry,

[Taco Cowboy]

Do you agree with the Slashdot Beta program ?

Advertising: The Next Bubble Burst?

[wjcofkc]

Currently, advertising pays for the web as we know it. From my perspective as a non-marketer, it is very much ineffective and yet a lot of money is changing hands over it. We live in an age where someone can make $50,000\day on a free mobile game that display ads that most people do not even tap on, and avoid directing their attention to. The web doesn't seem much different, and that strikes me as unsustainable. Do you foresee a future bubble burst based on an industry-wide, sudden realization that current advertising models do not work anywhere near as well as the powers that be currently believe the do? What would be the consequences of an advertising bubble burst and what might support the web afterwards?