4 STORYBYMICHELLEQUINN

For Silicon Valley, it was the yearto soldier on.

Theindustrywithstood the sharp fluctuations of the stock marketatthe beginning of the year and dire predictions that the current boom cycle was coming to an end. Thatdidn’thappen.

Instead, tech persevered, even as the money tightened. Tech startups received $5.8 billion through the third quarter, which puts venture spending on track to fall farshort of lastyear’s haul of $11 billion. It was a year thatsaw no blockbuster publicofferings, the tech industry’s coming-of-agepartythat usually spurs big rounds ofinvestment, growth and excitement.

Without the usual bullish proclamationsof endless growth, realityset in. Companiesbegan to grab pieces offthechessboard or to lookfor exits. Verizon bought Yahoo. Microsoftbought LinkedIn. Twitter tried, and failed, to sell itself.

“Theyear wasn’tmarked by a downturn in any way,”said Russell Hancock, president and CEO of

JointVenture Silicon Valley.“We just continued. Wedid it incrementally.”

Indeed, tech superstars thrived amid global challenges, even as the honeymoon period seemed to be over.

Facebook wrestled with big issues such as how to handle censorship on its platform and its role as a news site during the presidential election.

Apple, with no newhitcategory,appeared less like the innovation powerhouse it has long been.

Forthe firsttime in 15 years, the iPhone maker reported a drop in annual sales in 2016. Yetthe company,which celebrated its 40th birthday,survived a standoffwith the FBI over whether to unlock the iPhone used by a terrorist attacker.Andit remains the most valuable company inthe world.

EvenAlphabet, Google’sparent company,stumbled with some of its so-called “moonshots” — those

Keymoments

January: Techstockssink,with the Nasdaq falling 500 points in a single day.

February-March: Apple fights the FBI’s efforttoforceit tounlock an iPhone that was used byaterrorist attackerin San Bernardino.

May: Mark Zuckerbergmeets with Glenn Beck and otherconservative media personalities totalk aboutbias on the social network.

May: Aman driving aTesla with self-driving technology crashes and dies.

June: Microsoftbuys LinkedIn.

July: Verizon saysit will buy Yahoo for $4.8 billion.

July: U.S.regulators sanction Theranos, the Palo Altomedical testing company,and ban Elizabeth Holmes,the firm’s founder and CEO,from operating the company’slab for twoyears.

August: Afederal judge rejects Uber’s deal with driverswho sued the world’smost valuable startup,arguing that they should beconsidered employees.

August: Five tech companies — Apple,Alphabet,Microsoft,Amazon and Facebook — become for a brief period the most valuable companies in the world.

September: Twittertries,and fails,tosell itself.

September: Yahoo announces500millionYahoo user accounts were compromised byhackersin 2014.

October: Apple reports its firstannual declinein sales in 15years.

October: PeterThiel,the venture capitalist,makes a $1.5 million donation toDonald Trump’spresidential campaign.

November: The stock marketrecoversto close atarecord high afterthe presidential election.

explorations that the company’s chief financial officer calls “other bets.”The companyscrapped Google Fiber, its nationwide effort to expandhigh-speed connectivity; jettisoned ProjectAra, its modular phone; and reorganized Nest, itssmart-home unit. Perhaps mostbracingly,Silicon Valley wasmostly ignored in the presidential race with both candidates failing to engage inits issues or spendmuch timehere. After largely aligning themselves with HillaryClinton, techleaders watched agogas DonaldTrump won decisively.

ForSilicon Valley,2016 won’t be remembered as ablockbuster, but the regionhasn’tforgotten its role asthe engine of innovation. Itmay simply be taking a moment to catch its breath before coming up withthe next new thing. MQUINN@BAYAREANEWSGROUP.COM