It’s a story we’re seeing play out over and over again. Slap “AI” on your offering and watch investors trip over themselves with bonkers valuations, all hoping you’re the next Anthropic or OpenAI.
Now, the chickens are coming home to roost.
The short version for marketers: you can’t optimise your way out of someone else’s reckless maths. When the AI hype crashes, your best move is to keep your skills sharp, your network warm and your options open.
Where is the AI hype falling apart?
Casper and I looked at three stories where the hype collided with the balance sheet.
The SaaS valuation crash. A platform pivoted into AI enterprise workflows, secured a multi-billion-dollar valuation, then sold at a massive discount.
The $45 billion fund wipeout. An AI fund that had grown to about $45 billion lost roughly two-thirds of its value in around 30 days. It was built on big macro predictions, without the financial metrics you and I have to live by.
SpaceX’s stock slide. Its shares fell well below their post-IPO high, despite record revenue, as investors got nervous about billions in AI infrastructure spending.
Spoiler alert: these aren’t the first, and they certainly won’t be the last.
Who walks away with the money?
When the “trust me, bro” maths falls apart, founders can still walk away with multi-million-dollar payouts, while employees are left holding the (often depressingly empty) bag.
Why should marketers care?
Because it trickles down. When investors demand huge growth with zero additional budget, those impossible targets land on your desk.
How do you protect yourself?
You can’t fix the valuation, so focus on what you control:
- Keep your skills sharp
- Keep your network warm
- Keep your options open
Casper and I go deeper in Marketing Corner episode 159.
Sources: CNBC and Investing.com on the fund. CNN on SpaceX’s results.