Stephen N. Lisson
Boom Town: Stay Tuned for the Next
Episode of the Tech Show --- Will Everybody Love or Hate Carly? Will the
Cast Be Survivors or Six Feet Under?
By Kara Swisher
09/10/2001
The Wall Street Journal
B1
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
The tech industry has returned from its
summer hiatus with a slate of new shows: comedies, dramas, cliffhangers and
the possibility of some outright stinkers.
The tech sector used to be full of
happy, rich, captivating characters. But now the glamour has been revealed
as hype, and the dazzling sets now look like cheap cardboard. For the
players, it's like being caught in an endless episode of "The Twilight
Zone" -- except everybody can hear you scream.
In August, eBay announced that it's
creating its own television show featuring stories from its site. So here's
a brief look at others in the fall lineup:
"Six Feet Under": Each week
begins with a new death in the tech industry and its impact on a disparate
cast of characters -- from bankruptcy lawyers (starring roles) to stock and
bondholders (supporting cast) to employees (a handful of walk-ons). Some
recent starring corpses have included wireless data company, Metricom; New
Economy magazine, the Industry Standard magazine; and a spate of executives,
such as Exodus's Ellen Hancock.
"Survivor": A dozen would-be
entrepreneurs are dropped off on Silicon Valley's famed Sand Hill Road. To
win, they must perform a series of arduous tasks, including avoiding a
"cram down" round in which all equity is diluted mercilessly,
begging for funding that is unlikely to materialize for at least another
year, and, perhaps most challenging, thinking up an actual business plan
that will make money.
Few are expected to make it, says Steve
Lisson of Austin, Texas -based InsiderVC.com.
"Shakeout?" he asks. "Like the last downturn, some of the
same VCs now repeat their same biggest mistakes from a decade ago. VCs who
say they are investing at a slow pace [now] are in fact right on pace in
relative terms, and in absolute terms spending far more than ever in the
history of their firms."
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Copyright © 2000 Dow Jones
& Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Stephen N. Lisson |
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