Startup.com, a film directed by Chris Hegedus and Jehane Noujaim, chronicles the brief lifespan of a new company in the
dot-com era. The documentary followed the lives of
govWorks.com founders
Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and
Tom Herman and their pursuit to make their business a success in the modern-day
e-commerce marketplace. Running into hardships that eventually brought the downfall of the organization, the movie focused not on the business goings-on that transpired but rather the personal relationships that endured and comprised the industry venture.
This documentary served to dispel the illusion that anyone who managed to get caught up in the dot-com, e-commerce fad of recent years would instantly become a millionaire. It was a commonly held belief that anyone with an idea and funding could just go ahead and make themselves rich through the vehicle called the Internet. Many went with this belief. A good many have failed. These failures, up until recently, were not widely known. The public at large was still the impression that dot-coms, startups, and e-commerce were the way to go.
It did not help matters any that those who did have the money (the VC, namely) did not have the insight to realize that startups were not any more successful a business venture than any other they have dealt with in the past. What with their impression that anything involving the Internet would surely grant them millions, they backed many a new company, almost blindly. These startups, however, often did not have enough business savvy to understand the need for a market niche or a sound business plan and/or methodology. As a result, these new businesses crashed and along with them went millions of venture capitalist dollars. VC are now a little more cautious in the dispensing of their funds.
The truth of the matter was revealed that a startup was not some sort of magical device where venture capitalists put their money in and instantly everyone gets rich. What everyone discovered was that a startup was just like any other new business trying to eke out a living of its own. It needed to make sense in order to make money. And it needed to keep up to keep on making money.
Startup.com shattered that picture perfect idea that most everyone held about new business on the web. It told the world all at once that companies could fail ...even the ones online.