TechTeeter

Courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/ / CC BY 2.0 with my modifications

It’s the 10th anniversary of the Dot-com bubble. Remember those days of Internet business frenzy? I don’t. In fact, I had no clue that I had signed up for it, when I chose to emigrate to the US in the latter half of 2000. New to the fascinating Silicon Valley, I hadn’t even planted my feet firmly, that the ground started shifting. My friends and I endured it on a steady diet of ignorant optimism, unfounded hope, awe and mutual support.

Network World is marking the day with a look back at the times. For those of us,  who were caught as deers in headlights, it is an enlightening read. It starts with something probably everybody had a hint of, but never seemed to pay heed to, anyways:

“When the NASDAQ stock index hit its all-time high of 5,133 on March 10, 2000 – having more than doubled in a year — the now legendary dot-com bubble was already looking like a balloon strapped to the back of a porcupine.”

Later, come some real gems:

“First the players: A few of the names live on as poster children for failure, of course: Pets.com, Kozmo.com, MVP.com and Go.com, to cite but four from this list of “Top 10 Dot-Com Flops” by CNet.”

“One would expect that 3Com shares would be worth at least 1.5 times the value of Palm shares. But on the first day of trading after the announcement, Palm shares were worth $95.06 a share while 3Com shares fell to $81.81. The market was valuing the non-Palm part of 3Com’s business at minus $63.”

And some invaluable Internet Business myths:

• It’s okay to sell products for less than what they cost you, because that will bring you lots of customers.
• Internet-based companies are immune to economic cycles.
• Internet companies can’t spend too much on advertising.
• Internet companies that carry no inventory are infinitely profitable.

Anyways! Before everything gets too morose around here, I’ll raise a toast. After all, it’s the bubble-burst that most of us should bemoan. Not the bubble itself. Join me in the celebration… watch these videos: