bbotcs: being a 'techie' by profession both helped AND hurt me during the late '80's and '90's ..... I invested in many small companies because I knew their products were good, but they still failed because they lacked the marketing muscle to compete with larger players.
All investors who followed tech leaders like MSFT, INTC, ORCL, AMAT, CSCO and DELL had the opportunity for a big joyride .... these companies were widely written about in the WSJ and NY Times, so one didn't have to be a 'techie' to realize their leadership positions and ongoing strong growth. I remember the day in 1990 that MSFT went public .... my ties to IBM hurt me because I was biased against MSFT and felt the stock's PE was undeservedly high, so I never bought any shares ..... MSFT became a 400 bagger within a decade. In the meanwhile my large position in IBM languished for years as the stock greatly underperfomed the broader market. IBM was a great stock to own in the '60's, '70's and early '80's, but not after that. Hindsight is perfect as usual.
