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Non-Tech : Tulipomania Blowoff Contest: Why and When will it end? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kevin Collins who wrote (1192)	4/1/1999 1:18:00 PM
From: The Duke of URL©	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3543

Kevin, and I don't mean to be negative, but isn't this sort of a shuck? What good does it do to have the switch, when this issue is transmission of bandwidth? and the deal provides that the "node holders will negotiate among themselves" for transmission. Sort of a tin can without the string?

To: Kevin Collins who wrote (1192)	4/2/1999 10:17:00 AM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3543

A sure sign of a top?:"IPOme.com to launch individual stock sales. Visionaries have always had their doubters. By Owen Thomas Red Herring Online April 1, 1999 "Though the folks in Silicon Valley have taken a lot of strange stuff to the public markets in recent years, no one has yet figured out how to take a person public," Fortune wrote last month. "When I read that, I just laughed," says Hans Urkunde, founder and CEO of IPOme.com. "Because we have figured out how to take a person public." IPOme.com plans to do for Silicon Valley what the Hollywood Stock Exchange did for Tinseltown -- but the startup aims to put real money in the pockets of market-ready individuals. The plans are still under review by the Securities and Exchange Commission. And the U.S. Constitution's Thirteenth Amendment appears to pose a challenge to issuing more than a 50 percent stake in an individual. But with the necessary approvals and Supreme Court rulings, IPOme.com will soon begin offering its PersonalIPO service to selected individuals. Its clients will incorporate themselves and offer shares to the investing public over the Internet. Mr. Urkunde left hedge fund Cramer, Berkowitz & Co. late last year to start the company. "In advising high-net-worth individuals, I realized that the equity markets offered a better way for people to reach their market-cap potential," said Mr. Urkunde. "And [TheStreet.com chairman and commentator] Jim Cramer showed me that sheer force of personality can be a profit center." Nirav Tolia of Yahoo (YHOO) has joined the company as vice president of marketing, and David Beirne -- originally contracted to help form the management team -- has himself been recruited. The former Benchmark Capital partner and head of Ramsey Beirne Associates will serve as executive vice president and director of research. Mr. Beirne, an experienced recruiter for high-tech firms, will develop new methodologies to track and analyze individuals' earning potentials. Tim Smith of the Stencil Group will handle business development and public relations for the new firm. "They're really the same thing," says the former head of NRW Interactive. POUND OF FLESH IPOme.com plans to capitalize on emergent trends in the new economy: personalization, monetization, and capitalization. "Eyeballs are the currency of the new economy, and we're going to offer them up two at a time," says Mr. Tolia. "This is the one-to-one future writ large," says Ron Rappaport, an analyst at Zona Research. "Instead of selling slices of their attention, people will sell slices of themselves." Andre Wanker, a partner at Sand Hill Road venture capital firm April Capital, which has invested in IPOme.com, says his firm sees limitless potential in the new firm. "It's a wide-open market, a big opportunity," says Mr. Wanker. "At the end of the day, it's all about great teams. Venture capitalists always say that they invest in teams, not companies, but IPOme.com will make them put their money where their mouths are." According to Mr. Wanker, April Capital has taken 10 percent stakes in IPOme.com's executive staff, as well as an undisclosed equity position in the firm. "We took the usual pound of flesh," he noted. GETTING PERSONAL Ann Winblad, general partner in San Francisco venture capital firm Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, acknowledges that IPOme.com's model may change the way venture capitalists invest. "I've always invested in people," says Ms. Winblad. "Take Sharam Sasson of Extensity -- I'd invest in anything he does. Or Julie Wainwright -- it would have saved us a lot of paperwork just to invest directly in her!" Hummer Winblad recently took a stake in Ms. Wainwright's latest company, Pets.com. "We could have done that investment just by adding [Pets.com founder] Greg McLemore to our portfolio!" says Ms. Winblad. Amazon.com (AMZN) also took a 50 percent stake in the online pet supplies store, showing that merging financial markets with labor markets is the wave of the future. Before taking a 50 percent stake in her company, Pets.com, Amazon had attempted to recruit Ms. Wainwright for a position at the Seattle-based e-commerce firm. High-tech executives could make even more money from the equity markets if IPOme.com takes off. But not every career choice will lead to PPO riches. "I'd like to take myself public," says Web commentator Carl Steadman. "But I worry that the SEC-mandated quiet period would hobble my career as a columnist." redherring.com