Surviving Tech Booms: Dot Com, Cloud, AI, Space

We've survived dot com crashes, cloud computing revolutions, remote work transformations, social media explosions, and now AI disruption - but the next tech boom is literally taking us off-planet. This week on Claws x Code, Joi and Jey map the timeline of tech booms they've navigated while discovering that space colonization isn't science fiction anymore - it's the next industry transformation.

The Tech Boom Timeline That Built Today

Each tech boom didn't just create new industries - it built the foundation for the next revolution. Cloud computing enabled remote work, which exploded video social platforms, which generated the training data for AI, which is now accelerating space colonization.

"Each series of tech booms," Joi explains. "We had the dot com boom, then 2007 to 2015 was the cloud computing boom, and now we have the AI boom." But here's the uncomfortable truth that started it all: 90% of early internet was research and porn. Google Image Search was literally invented because people wanted to see J.Lo's dress so badly.

Social media changed everything by creating the first universal use case for being online that wasn't scientific research or adult content. Suddenly everyone had a reason to be connected, which exploded software-as-a-service opportunities and laid the groundwork for AI training data.

LinkedIn's Space Station Discovery

Joi's LinkedIn deep dive uncovered the perfect example of tech boom survival: Hillary Coe, SpaceX's first Director of Design who's now Chief Design and Marketing Officer at Vast, building the world's first commercial space station.

Her LinkedIn about section reads like a tech boom survivor's resume: "Emmy award-winning design leader employing bold multiplatform innovations to solve the world's greatest challenges. At SpaceX's first director of design, I was privileged to lead the visual strategy and narrative for new era of space flight... my mission continues with the development of long-term life in space."

This is what surviving multiple tech booms looks like - moving from terrestrial digital design to literally designing human habitation in space.

Space: The Next Frontier for Designers

Vast is actively hiring project managers for commercial space station development. The space industry isn't just launching rockets anymore - it's building entire ecosystems for long-term human habitation off-planet.

"How many female boss bitches do you know that are in not just aviation but space aviation?" Joi asks. The answer reveals how early we are in this boom - these leaders are pioneering entirely new career categories.

The Connected Evolution

What makes this episode fascinating is seeing how each boom created the infrastructure for the next breakthrough. Social media platforms generated massive datasets that trained AI models, which are now optimizing spacecraft design and space mission planning.

The timeline isn't coincidental - it's connected. Remote work required cloud infrastructure. Video social required remote work adoption. AI required social media data. Space colonization requires AI optimization.

LinkedIn as Industry Discovery Platform

Beyond the space industry revelation, this episode showcases LinkedIn's evolution into the ultimate platform for discovering industry leaders and emerging sectors. "Where else would I have found her?" Joi reflects about discovering Hillary Coe's work.

LinkedIn has become more than professional networking - it's early-stage industry intelligence for tracking where the next tech boom is building.

Episode Links:

• Episode 9: Factories on the Moon - Perfect context for space industry hiring trends
• Episode 8: Hardware Confessions - Essential background on professional tool evolution

Related Products:

• Mechanical Keyboards Collection - Perfect for those late-night space industry research sessions
• The Mint Assembly Keyboard - Featured in the hardware discussion, built for serious workflows