One of tech's most important investors says 'you'll see some dead unicorns this year' among startups worth $1 billion

Investor Bill Gurley has warned that Silicon Valley's golden age could soon be over - and some of today's biggest startups could go down with it, the New York Times reports.

Gurley is a prominent investor known for investments in Uber and Snapchat.

But Gurley is also known for his pessimistic outlook on the tech industry. He warned during a talk at SXSW that "a complete absence of fear" in Silicon Valley has led to venture capital firms taking big risks on tech companies.

Gurley went on to say that Silicon Valley's optimism could lead to the death of so-called "unicorn" companies - startups that reach a $1 billion valuation before their IPO. Those companies could face a turn in the market in the near future. "I do think you'll see some dead unicorns this year," Gurley said.

Elsewhere in the talk, Gurley discussed whether he thinks driverless cars are going to change the world. He that he suspects driverless cars are often used by large tech companies to distract journalists, and that it's not yet technologically feasible to have driverless cars operating around the world.