THE NEWS WRAP: Prominent VC Bill Gurley warns tech startup risk approaching dotcom bubble levels

Prominent venture capitalist Bill Gurley, a general partner at VC firm Benchmark, has told The Wall Street Journal over the past year Silicon Valley may have taken on more risk than it can handle.

“I think that Silicon Valley as a whole, or that the venture capital community or startup community, is taking on an excessive amount of risk right now – unprecedented since ‘99,” he says.

“In some ways less silly than ‘99 and in others ways more silly than in ‘99. I love the Buffett quote because it lays it out. No one’s fearful, everyone’s greedy and it will eventually end.”

Minecraft founders to leave company

Markus “Notch” Persson, Carl Manneh and Jakob Porser, co-founders of Mojang, the developer of Minecraft, have announced they will leave the company after its $2.5 billion acquisition by Microsoft.

In a statement announcing the move, Mojang’s Owen Hill and Lydia Winters confirmed the trio were leaving, but it’s unknown what they’re planning to do next.

“Minecraft will continue to evolve, just like it has since the start of development,” the statement says.

“We don’t know specific plans for Minecraft’s future yet, but we do know that everyone involved wants the community to grow and become even more amazing than it’s ever been. Stopping players making cool stuff is not in anyone’s interest.”

Microsoft announces Windows 9 event for September 30

Microsoft has confirmed rumours that it would be unveiling Windows 9 later this month, announcing it will be holding a “Windows event” in San Francisco on September 30, The Verge reports.

The company is expected to deliver a Windows Technical Preview at the event or soon after so that developers and enterprise customers can evaluate a number of changes the company is making.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 43.63 to 17,031.14. The Australian dollar is currently trading at US90 cents.