>Add "the type-A squares start to get in on it" as bubble-checklist item number umpteen-dozen.

First thing that came to my mind too. When drone lambda gets on it, it's time to get out of it :) Financially speaking. As working places, tech companies are still the best places for engineers, of course.

The part that best put it for me was: "she realized sometime in the middle of April that she needed to do an Internet start-up for something."

I simultaneously recoiled and felt attracted, as I very well feel the same way, and now I wonder if the fact that I'm engineer legitimizes my urge at all, compared to hers.

Of course it does. If a lawyer has an urge to sue someone, that's way more legitimate than an engineer's urge to do the same thing. (Just read the comments on that AaronSW thread to see how well the average engineer can interact with the US legal system.)

I don't have a technical background, so I was really, really cautious about embracing startup ideas, mostly because of how easy it would be for the business guy (i.e. me) to be a total poser.

I wouldn't lump Cheryl Yeoh (the person you're quoting) in with 'drone lambda' or 'type-A square'. She's very driven, and has made a hell of a lot more progress with CityPockets than I would've expected.

On the other hand, a lot of talented engineers are making the jump from Wall Street quants to early startup employees, and that's a good thing.

Like that Jeff Bezos (formerly an analyst at DE Shaw prior to Amazon) or Jimbo Wales (formerly a futures trader prior to Wikipedia).

When the VC start to take them seriously and give them money is when we really have a problem. If they are just trying, and not succeding, to get in on it is fine, I think.