F’d Companies: Spectacular Dot-com Flameouts

Not long ago, the world was awash with venture capital in search of the next Yahoo! or Amazon.com. No product, no experience, no technology, no business plan -- no problem. You could still get ＄40 million from investors to start up your dot-com. And you could get people to work around the clock for stock options and the promise of millions. Then, around April 2000, it all came crashing down.

Smart investors, esteemed analysts, and the business press found themselves asking:

• Who knew people wouldn’t rush out to trade in their U.S. dollars for a virtual currency called Flooz?

• Who knew people wouldn’t blow all their Flooz on a used car from the guys at iMotors.com?

• And who needed a used car from iMotors.com when they could just sit at home and have 40-lb. bags of dog food delivered to them by a sock puppet?
  

F’d Companies captures the waste, greed, and human stupidity of more than 100 dot-com companies. Written in Philip J. Kaplan’s popular, cynical style, these profiles are filled with colorful anecdotes, factoids, and information unavailable anywhere else. Together they form a gleeful encyclopedia of how not to run a business. They also capture a truly remarkable period of history.

F’d Companies is required reading for everyone involved in the ＂new economy＂ -- assuming your severance check can cover the cost.

In May 2000, having nothing better to do with his Memorial Day weekend, Philip J. Kaplan created Fuckedcompany.com to track the layoffs, the bankruptcies, and the generally bad behavior of dot-com companies. The site became an immediate success and has grown into one of the most well-read news sources on the Web, attracting more than 4 million visitors a month. Fuckedcompany.com was named ＂Site of the Year＂ by Rolling Stone, Time, and Yahoo!, among others. Kaplan is also the president of PK Interactive, an e-commerce solutions firm. He lives in New York City and can be seen playing drums in smoky heavy metal clubs around town.