Thanks Martin, we've had some fascinating answers.... (I'll write more replies later....)

That was an interesting story!

I guess in a way, some of these dot-commers did "succeed" but not in the "traditional" sense....

One of the "laws" of business is "you have to sell something to somebody" (I borrowed that from Jim Straw), and I guess when you think of it, they did sell something to somebody.... They sold their stock.

That seems to have been the essential business model.... Create an internet company, sell the stock, get rich.

It worked for a while, but it's unsustainable - it's a bit like a chain letter or pyramid scheme in that sense, each person gives the people higher up on the chain some money, and you'll get more later yourself. Eventually, it comes crashing down, and just like pyramid schemes, the ones at the end of the chain lose the most.

These venture capitalists were very experienced at business, so I'm sure they know all this stuff. They just thought they'd get rich while they could from the above scheme - not by selling products to consumers, but by selling hyper-inflated stock to a hungry public.

That was a very interesting story, Martin, and I can certainly see how it could be hard to tell many of these people that their ideas would not work. Especially since there was a kind of "arrogance" about it as well.... The standard reply was, "you just don't get it." Of course, you DID "get it," but they were under the delusion of the bubble....

- Dien