The Bubble 2.0 blues brothers regularly remind us of how crazy the original Dotcom 'daze' were but it takes the dramatisation of a programme like Raging Bulls to really hit the point home.
Episode 2 featured Fran Rooney and Baltimore Technolgies. Though I already knew much of the story (who didn't?) this programme really tied it all together for me. My gosh, I never realized quite how massive the hysteria became! Rooney came across as the ultimate chancer but you'd almost have to admire the neck he had in taking it all so far.
One particular anecdote summed it up for me. If I recollect it correctly it goes something like this:
The Baltimore team had long taken advantage of being so far away from The Valley by presenting the company as something much bigger than it actually was. For one particular encryption exhibition in the United States they took along the whole staff of 12 and instructed them to purchase their full allowance of duty free booze at the airport. This allowed them to cheaply stage the mother of all piss-ups after the exhibition to which competitors, partners and customers were openly invited. But here's the really clever bit. The ladies on the Baltimore team were charged with the task of chatting up the geeks in the competition to keep them at bay while the Baltimore men went about schmoozing the potential clients and partners. Apparently it worked a treat. I love it!
By the way Karlin Lillington was great on the programme and shared another hilarious anecdote. When are you going to star blogging again Karlin?
October 18, 2006
I've huge respect for the man and what he achieved. He wasn't the one who valued the company at $7B, that was all down to idiot investors. The smart ones all exited early.
He built a company from a few employees to over a thousand and created a global brand. If I achieve even 1% of what he has, I'll be happy.
If he was American with a US based company he'd be a hero. He thought big and talked big and good on him. A few more people with vision like him in this country and we'd all be a lot better off.
Don't forget that Stockbyte didn't get where it was by taking an "oh don't mind us, we're just a wee bunch of paddies selling a few photos" attitude either.
When complete flakes like Carly Fiorina whose entire careers are built on smoke and mirrors can still be highly regarded in the US business community, Fran can hold his head up high with his achievements.
Posted by: Conor O'Neill | October 19, 2006 at 10:36 AM
Well said Conor. There's way too much begrudgery in this country and I should have had the guts to say "I admire him" instead of "You'd almost have to admire him". That was me betraying the years of brainwashing I got growing up about people who were acting 'too big for their boots'.
Bono captured the begrudgery culture perfectly during an appearance on Oprah once where he said (something like): "In America people look up at the guy in the mansion on the hill and say 'Some day, I'm gonna be that guy', whereas in Ireland people look up at the guy in the mansion on the hill and say 'Some day, I'm gonna get that b*****d".
Captures it perfectly I think!
BTW, good to read at during the end credits to Raging Bulls that Rooney is now CEO of Ice Broadband. Can't keep a good man down.
Posted by: James Corbett | October 19, 2006 at 10:48 AM