Investors who wanted to make a quick buck are gone, says Cohan. Also leaving are the employees who have seen the worth of their stock options evaporate. That is just one of the ways the shakeup is creating opportunities for traditional companies to build dot-com businesses. With established brand names and the racket of competing dot-com startups subsiding, they have the deep pockets to build Web sites without Wall Street's help. Take Wal-Mart, which is only now making a serious effort to sell online.
Many analysts argue the dot-coms' boom and bust was inevitable.
Some companies that played their cards right will surely make it through the shakeout. And others remain to be founded on viable business models, with the lessons of earlier mistakes to build upon. Now that the greed is being ground out of the Web, you can bet that the new dot-com investors and entrepreneurs won't be so obsessed with making quick fortunes. Bid on or offer business services Web design, logo design, computer consulting, and more. Business Week Online may receive a share of any fees you pay for services.