Let's not beat around the bush: it has been an awful few weeks for technology investing.
Some of the most iconic tech names on the US sharemarket have been savaged. Indiscriminate selling has hit companies under pressure (Twitter, Yahoo, LinkedIn), others that are executing well and growing like crazy but possibly overdue for a pullback (Netflix, Amazon) and more established names with gigantic profits (Apple and Google).
The public market turmoil has coincided with some worrying developments in the private markets. At least two of the so called "unicorns" - venture-backed start-ups with valuations above $US1 billion ($1.4 billion) - have run into serious trouble. The CEO of Zenefits, an online human resources and payroll software company, abruptly resigned last week amid accusations of impropriety. 
Theranos, a blood diagnostics company, was also beset by damaging allegations about its procedures, and one of its testing labs in California was shut by regulators last month. Both these companies are backed by elite Silicon Valley venture capital funds such as Andreessen Horowitz.
Warning signs about tech valuations are flashing up everywhere. But for budding entrepreneurs and investors alike, there are good reasons to keep calm and carry on. Or at least try to.
Niki Scevak, a partner at Blackbird Ventures, told me in an email market episodes like the one we are witnessing "absolutely ripple through" to early stage financing for start-ups.
He says many start-ups will probably have to make do with less capital and speed up plans to break even. The strongest start-ups should be fine and many will not need to raise external funds. "In the end, it's all a minor footnote for those truly great companies," he says.
Some of history's greatest tech companies were founded and funded during severe public market turmoil.
Google took its first venture capital funding in mid-1999, a few months before tech stocks melted down globally in the so-called dotcom bust.
Facebook was founded in a Harvard dorm room in 2004 - relatively sanguine times - but it reportedly secured some of its biggest dollops of pre-IPO financing in 2008 and 2009, when the global financial system seemed to be on the brink of implosion.
And the poster child of the start-up boom - Uber - was founded in   March 2009, the precise month when the US sharemarket hit its GFC-induced nadir.
Markus Kahlbetzer, a partner at Sydney-based Tankstream Ventures, is concerned about the global markets outlook - from China's slowdown, to the highly uncertain political situation in the US, and the wildcard that is oil.
He says start-ups needing funding should lock it down soon, because who knows what things will be like this time next year. That might mean accepting a dreaded down round (funding struck at a lower valuation than the preceding round). But his message is positive.
"Technology fundamentals haven't changed and if the unit economics of a business work in a sustainable way it will be able to ride the downturn and come out as a winner."
Markets go up and down all the time, and people have, hilariously, called for a repeat of the dotcom bust almost every year since it happened in 2000.
The market is being driven by concerns about China, oil and US interest rates - nothing to do with technology. That doesn't mean tech stocks won't be affected, but as fear and panic builds it's worth keeping in mind.