Product: Startup.Com (2001)
Rating: 4.0
Watch this whenever you're thinking of starting up ...
This is pure documentary, all created by a handheld video camera, filmed in 4:3 format. The only artistic aspect is some nifty editing (e.g. she says to camera that she wants to settle down with Kaleil and get a dog; he says to the telephone, almost immediately afterwards, but in a different venue, that he hates the idea of having either a dog or a baby.) This film is not going to win any prizes for cinematography.But what you do get is a fantastically instructive series of lessons in how to start up a business. Ultimately these guys fail, but along the way, you get a lot of lessons in what venture capitalists were looking for, how to attract talent and funding when you seem to have nothing but enthusiasm to offer, how to handle competitors and how to cope with long-term friends in your firm.This is the DVD you need to watch every time you're thinking of starting up a business, or thinking of going into business with a friend. Not necessarily to put you off, but at least to warn you of some of the dangers.Of course, there is a very different VC climate nowadays, since the dot-com bust, and I would imagine that even then, some of the US practices seen here would not be transferable to the UK without some modification. In this film, it is startling to see a small group of twentysomethings flying between the East Coast and Silicon Valley, casually talking about getting their first $15 million of funding when they have no customers and no product. One of the original founders gets out very early -- it seems for $700K in cash -- and it looks likely, he is the only one who makes anything out of this venture, called govWorks.com. (By the way, the film ends with the caption that the firm was bought by a multinational, but that Web address does not seem to work now. Although bizarrely the fictitious Web address implied by the start.com title DOES exist!)So, every would-be MBA graduate ought to watch this movie. This exposes the vicious realities -- e.g. that the senior board members you recruited to give your company credibility (e.g. ex-mayors) are also the ones prepared to sack you when the going gets tough. But at least these dot-com CEOs did not have to put their houses at risk -- a common stipulation in the UK.It's rivetting stuff.By the way, in the final scene, Kaleil has settled down with a different woman ... and a dog.