So, I'm kind of picking on you here, but people always say this about things they think are bad.

But there are pretty big structural differences between going short and going long. In particular, you need to know much more precisely when the bad things are going to happen. Sometime do a short (and if you already have, great, you know what I'm talking about). Its not nearly the "haha how stupid are they", people think it is.

It's okay to pick on me, I wrote the comment without putting a lot of context in it. I usually stick to trading commodities, not equities.

My comment really was saying, "I believe that tech startups have significant headwinds, poor underlying fundamentals, and would like a simple way to capture the profits from trades made around those assumptions."

Unfortunately, the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.

Words to live by.

You don't need an ETF to short the startup tech sector.

I also don't need SPY to invest in the S&P500, but it makes it easier!

No but it would help when you can't get anyone to sell you puts :-)