Winn was lionized by a fawning press, including this publication, which wrote a glowing profile of the California-born executive in January. In fact, Value America quickly turned out to be a bitter warning of what can happen when starry-eyed investors get swept away by Internet promises. Despite its powerful New Economy buzz, Value America fell victim to some very Old Economy dynamics, such as a lack of profitability and focus. Unless the stock perks up, the firm could be dropped by the Nasdaq stock exchange. Nearly half of the work force has been laid off.
Top management is out.
A special new team, led by Frederick W. Smith, chairman and CEO of FedEx Corp., is scrambling to come up with a survival plan. They'd better hurry, because the firm may run out of cash by year-end. As for Winn, he's history at the company. Some dot-coms report revenue as soon as the contract is signed. And some firms report revenues in a previous quarter to make their financials look better when they should really be reported in the following quarter.