Some bad news for startups looking for VC financing and latching onto the uber trendy Web 2.0 label.

A partner at a leading Sillicon Valley firm has stopped investing in Web 2.0 startups, says Randy Komisar a partner with Kleiner Perkins:

He said he had recently told John Battelle, one of the organizers of the rapidly growing Web 2.0 Summit conference, that the term no longer had the same positive cachet it once had. In the VC community it clearly has a negative one.

It’s good to hear at least some VCs are burned out on gimmicks masquerading as businesses. I’ve not been a fan of the term Web 2.0, deriding it as web pooh point oh from the beginning. Startups who can’t be bothered to find a real business model for their projects and instead latch onto the latest, greatest trends don’t deserve financing.

I’m not saying that all startups that are being labeled as web 2.0 don’t deserve financing, so please don’t anybody put words in my mouth. I’m all for small businesses being able to grow and thrive in this country and beyond. Heck, I’ve been part of the small business culture since 1994. Only those who intentionally position and market themselves as web 2.0 and are dressing up ideas that were original years ago should be left empty-handed at the loan desk. “We’ll make money later” is not a realistic business plan.

This isn’t saying mashups aren’t fun. It’s all about perspective and realism, isn’t it? Most mashups are gimmicks, games and parlor tricks, not serious businesses. I’ve rolled a few mashups myself and am a huge gamer, so I’m there. More power to the mash generation! However, the whole notion that something as diverse as the web can be described with a version number is absurd. In case I’m wrong, I have the domain for web version 113 already reserved and running. Woot, 230 visits since November 16, 2006!

Onto web 3.0 now? Why not, I’ll iterate it right now: ++$version;

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