It really is incredible how suddenly the world changes. Many of us are now unemployed, facing layoffs, taking salary cuts and enduring grueling work environments to try and get through the worst tech recession since 2008.

I myself now work in a fusty, old and stable government department in Europe.

But I once worked for a couple of 2010s ZIRP startups. And what places they were.

People from across Europe and the world would rock up to these places and bring their seductive cocktail of cultural insight, experiences and languages. And they were motivated primarily to create something new and cool. The types who would have hated the fusty corporate offices that many of us now flee to in search of job security.

And the energy was explosive. Sure most of their companies didn't make much profit or, in many cases, even revenue - but the magic was palpable. Not least because the company socials brought together so many people from different cultures and countries.

Love, friendships (and even startup founder partnerships) were forged in these places. And this magic was often sparked overseas at company global socials that flew everyone to party in foreign lands. I myself was flown to New York alongside everyone else in the London office to party for three days. It was crazy.

Much of that magic was captured in photographs that disappeared not long before those bankruptcies were declared.

Many of those people have since moved on to more sensible lives, corporate jobs and the bright beginnings of early middle age.

But for a moment, it was magic.