"Like everyone else, we are waiting for the bottom," said one tech exec. "So who knows?"

Said another: "No one wants to buy when prices could just keep going down. The trick is to buy before the really great deals out there collapse."

Translation: Things are going to get worse before they get better.

On the other side of the M&A table, many startups are still trying to avoid selling out. For most, it would be better to suffer longer than to sell now at a bargain price. One start-up executive told BoomTown that before conceding to an acquisition, "We will start eating our toner and paper first."