Product: Startup.Com (2001)
Rating: 1.0
A not-so-good glimpse at failure
This movie caused me to lose 2 hours of my life, and I want them back! After seeing this movie, it is obvious that the reason for govWorks.com's failure is not due to unfortunate stock market circumstances but because the owners just couldn't get along! From the start of the film, it is easy to see that the characters starting this company lack the discipline and true customer dedication to make this company a success. Throughout the movie, Mr. Kaleil tries to impress the viewers with his use of foul language, angry tones, and cell phones.These two obviously do not have a concrete business plan. As can be seen in the scenes negotiating with venture capital firms, Mr. Herman deviates from their original 'vision', spontaneously talking about giving people directions to government buildings. They apparently did not have any focus on why people would pay money for their service. Their lack of customer interaction sticks out like a sore thumb - nowhere in the development of govWorks.com do the founders actually perform any market research. They obtain large sums of venture capital, and celebrate without considering what they will use their funds for. They pile on the millions, but make no reference to their NEEDs in their cash flow statements (if they even had one).Overall the video is poorly directed - even for a documentary. There is no narration and the movie is acted out in a series of "scenes" taken by a home video. It is very much like "reality TV". All of the steps in building (and destroying) their company are implicit through dialog, rather than explained.If you like reality TV or just like watching 2 dimwits trying to start a company, then buy this. But if you are serious about seeing a motivational story or learning something about starting a company, don't waste your time on this movie. This movie was so bad I sent my DVD on a one-way trip through the microwave.