Product: Startup.Com (2001)
Rating: 4.0
Fly on the wall
Seeing this film left me sad that we don't have similar documentaries available for other periods of great economic change. The realism here, like others have said, is intact. As someone who has lived through a startup I couldn't help but reminisce every single problem and success these guys endured. There's a lesson here if this truly is a recurring blueprint for the birth of a company (possibly captured more succinctly by FJ Lennon in 'Every Mistake in the Book').While the movie falls short in documenting the real decline of the mechanics of their business it excels in showing the decline on the people side. The greed, insecurities, ambitions, and pettiness of each person is brought out to varying degrees based on how well or badly things are going. The personalities of people who you feel you have a grip on, change before your very eyes. How much more exciting it is to see a 'reality' show that's not provoking people into being interesting. The strains and successes provide the catalyst for an incredibly interesting people dynamic. And ultimately why the dream of working at a company with your best friends invokes the thought that one should be careful what they wish for.The film makers do a particularly strong job of being in the right place at the right time to capture key events. And it all hauntingly reflects my experiences. From the embarassing 'rah rah'/'go team' meetings to the vicious reality of the VC prostitution circuit to the joy of hitting key milestones like the public release of their website or securing money to the greed that sinks its teeth into people who don't pull their weight and are called on it to the daunting realization that all hope is lost and one is in way over one's head to the final reflection on the wreckage that is left - it is all here.For those who sat back during this crazy period in comfortable safe jobs, it is a chance to see what all the fuss was about. For those who lived this, it is a chance to reflect on what seemed like a path we controlled yet in reality was a long corridor we chose to travel down in straitjackets with an exit sign at the end beyond which lies the big train wreck.