e-Dreams

[susandennis]

I can't remember how I stumbled across this Netflix offering but tonight I watched e-Dreams - a documentary about the rise and fall of Kozmo. It was pretty interesting.

It was hard to believe that hole dot com boom and bust was only about three years old. The Kozmo story isn't at all unlike all the others including the one I worked for. It was an interesting experience - that whole time.

The start up I work for now is different in a lot of ways but similar in more than I realized. It is a different time now and my company is not run by 25 year olds. But, after watching this tonight I saw the result of growing pains. At Kozmo and my first start up (that tanked about the time Kozmo did) things begin to turn when outside executives were brought on board to 'bring us to the next level'. We started that at this company about the end of last Fall. I hadn't connected all the dots until I saw this. Interesting. We shall see.

Comments

that can be viewed two ways ...

[henare.livejournal.com]

• the "outside execs" fucked up, or
• the outside execs found that the business and the business plan weren't workable to the goal

a *lot* of those business did fly by the seat of their pants ... all the time!

Re: that can be viewed two ways ...

[susandennis]

I'm not making a judgement about the outside executives. In my first start up, it was critical to bring them in so that the CEO could go on to rehab. I'm just saying that it seems to be a milestone and one that could portend the end.

HomeGrocer/Kozmo

[idajo.livejournal.com]

I mourned the demise of HomeGrocer.com Seeing your fridge magnets brought back memories of exemplary customer service, upbeat delivery staff attitudes and an organization that made every effort to minimize the negative impact their closing would have on established customers.

Kozmo.com, on the other hand, left me with nothing but a small hole in my wallet and a much larger level of irritation at the lack of common courtesy to folks who'd been loyal customers while it lasted.

I worked for an organization located on the Dexter corridor . . very few food-related businesses in the area so Kozmo was welcomed with open arms. A work day rarely passed without Kozmo delivery folk appearing a dozen times or so. When Kozmo prices began to increase and delivery charges were added, we realized Kozmo was in trouble. A number of us, in an effort to give the business a boost, purchased their "video rental special" - if I recall we prepaid $50 for 30 rentals. A month later, Kozmo folded without warning - open for business one day and closed the next. I'd rented two videos out of the 30 I'd paid for so I called to request a refund. I was told that their policy stated that no refunds were available after 30 days from the date of purchase. That equated to renting 30 movies in 30 days . . I enjoy watching movies as much as the next person but good grief! When I told the customer service (?) contact I felt that policy was less than fair I was told, "...so sue us" *click*

Thanks for givig me the opportunity to air this small vent; I feel much better now! ;-)

[suifu.livejournal.com]

Interesting analysis. The arrival of "outsiders" also signalled some changes at EarthLink.

[susandennis]

And, you know, I'm not convinced that this milestone is necessarily the end. One thing that kept going through my mind while I was watching was Amazon. They did the outside exec thing several years ago and lived to tell about it. They've had rough spots but gotten over them.

At IBM and even Microsoft, you really didn't get a chance to see the inner workings that much. But at a startup you can see everything and I'm not smart enough to do much more than watch and wonder.