However, having acquired a strong affinity for startups, I also accept that risk (even complete, betting-the-farm risk) is totally OK, so long as that risk is taken in an informed manner. Startups, especially early ones, are a risky proposition from the get-go, and VC money tends to amplify that.

The market doesn't much punish a web startup that grew like crazy but lost some user-generated content by using some "NoSQL" database when it first came out. It does, however, punish the one that failed to grow by being too conservative.

That's obviously a false dichotomy, but I believe that's essentially the perception that's created, partly by characterizing new technologies as dangerous because they're new and "shiny".

Ultimately, I consider mine to be a service profession and an engineering one. As such, if I think a new tech is too undesirable, it's up to me to provide an alternative that actually addresses the original problems (without offloading the burden onto my users/customers).