startup.com: the raise & fall of the american dream

A pair of high school classmates propose to start an Internet company that will help citizens deal with local governments. They call it "govWorks." It will enable people to go online to register their motor vehicles, pay parking tickets, and do all the other nasty little things municipal and regional governments require of them. From 2 to 233 employees... from 0$ to $50M in venture capital... back to zero in about a year. From 1999 to 2001.

What lessons can we get out of this fascinating documentary?

I was curious and researched more information. What is striking is:

• being able to get venture capital even without the slightest business plan
• arguing about a company name rather than discussing the business strategy
• the friendship of the beginning gives place to the difficulties of the "business reality"
• the size of the speculative Net bubble (the CEO of the company made the front page of several magazines and was even invited by president Clinton!)... and the very rapid fall when the bubble busted
• a very insightful comment from a senior executive (not in the Net business) when meeting with the CEO of govWorks who was explaining the huge market ($6billions/yr): "we have to see who will make money out of it"... The young, sometime arrogant CEO was bragging the old timer...
• the advantage of the first mover that disappear when a late comer shows off a better solution...

Some references:

• Watch the trailer (Windows Media Player, 4.5Mb)
• Review by David Loftus
• Review by the New-York State Writers Institute

Why an eBusiness strategy?

The Web is one of those fields where anyone and everyone can become an "expert"... This often leads to situations where someone sincerely think the next greatest thing after sliced bread will be to build this nifty web site because THEY have this great idea... Even after the web-rush and dot-bomb era, there are still people who think the magic will work for them.

I have seen this thinking in all kinds of situations, from managers at large organizations going so far as to spend hundred of thousands of dollars before pulling the plug, small businesses thinking people will flock to their site to buy their nifty product or even individuals who think they will turn authors within days. If they know what to do, why would they need an ebusiness strategist?!

Instead of going into long explanations that would look like hype and marketing, I'll just give my top recommandations:

1. Forget about the web! Define your strategy, your product, your idea, your measure of success or whatever it is without ever saying the Web will do it for you! If your idea makes the smallest sense without the web, it will certainly do with it!
2. Forget about technology! Give me notepad or vi and I'll build you a web site. Give me Siebel, Microsoft.Net solutions or Open Source solutions and I'll build you a solutions based on those technologies. For 98% of the situations, technology is not an issue and is now mature enough to answer your needs.
3. "Start small, think big". You might have heard this one before, but it is so applicable to the web! Do several iterations to improve your site, test with real users and think in term of evolution rather than trying to build the Coliseum that will stand centuries.
4. Identify the "ecosystem". A web site doesn't exist by itself, it exists because of other systems: databases, search engines, links to other sites, people participating in your "community", etc. Interactions with those entities will determine the growth... and eventual death of your web site.
5. Recognize you don't know... The important is not to know everything, but rather to know where to find the answer!

La créativité de Caboche

Voici un texte trouvé dans le livre de Mathématique de mon garçon alors qu'il était en 2ièm année du primaire.

Comme quoi la réponse la plus évidente à un problème est peut-être bonne, mais peut-être pas la seule non plus!

C'est la récitation du vendredi. M. Mansa interroge ses élèves:

• Parmi les nombres suivants, lequel n'appartient pas à la série?
• 2, 4, 5, 6, 8

Tous les élèves trouvent la bonne réponse, sauf Caboche. C'est le 5, c'est évident!

Sauf Caboche, qui dis "J'y ai pensé, mais je préfère le 4 parce que..."

Mécontent, M. Mensa prive Caboche de récréation. Il lui demande de produire un texte sur le thème "J'aurais dû choisir le 5"

"Au début j'ai pensé au 5, parce qu'il est le seul nombre impair. Mais pourquoi pas le 8? C'est le seul dont le tracé est un ligne complètement fermée.

Pour moi, la meilleure réponse à un problème, c'est souvent la deuxième trouvée. Elle montre qu'on est capable de créativité.

J'ai ensuite pensé au 2, en le remplaçant par 7, on aurait une jolie suite 4,5,6,7,8...

J'avais beau regarder le 6, rien ne venait. Je l'ai tourné et retourné dans ma tête, puis... Euréka! En retournant le 6 on obtient un chiffre différent. Rien de tel avec les autres.

Finalement, j'ai considéré le 4. Le 4 est le seul chiffre tracé avec 2 traits. Il est le seul qui ne présente aucune courbe. Il est carré. Les autres non. C'est aussi mon chiffre préféré: le 4 avril (c'est le 4ièm mois) est le jour de ma fête. Pour tout cela, j'ai choisi le 4.

Je crois maintenant que j'aurais dû choisir le 5, comme tout le monde. Après tout, c'est le seul qui ne peut être additionné à l'un des autres pour faire 10: 4+6=10, 2+8=10...

D'accord, je prends le 5!"

Ref. "Défi mathématique, 1er cycle, #2", Cheneliere/McGraw-Hill, Michel & Robert Lyons.