While I don't know Marc Andreessen personally,I am among the many who have followed his legend and I greatly respect what he has done so far. I have followed Ning, the do it yourself social networking company only slightly and i think it shows some promise.
But Michael Arrington says that it's first external financing round was $44 million and that the company's post-money value is $214 million. This scares me. It scares me because I cannot conceive of any possible argument that this company is worth nearly a quarter billion dollars. Even considering the value of Marc's personal brand, the upside expectation seems to me to defy reality.
I am a survivor of the Great Dotcom Bubble. I remember hearing company valuations that seemed silly or worse to me, and I recall being shouted at because "I just didn't get it." What I did get was bubble splatter all over my nice PR guy suit, and then a nice long rest from work.
The Ning valuation scares me. I just don't get it. I hope someone else does.