That's the new message in the wake of the recent crash in Internet stocks. As the wind dies down and the sun begins to shine again, there's a smaller but more resilient band of dotcommers, who remain to fight another day.
Some internet stocks are now trading at only 5 to 10 percent of their peak values. There was a time, for example, when Starnet's share price was around the $13 to $15 level, and it was being pushed like crazy as a recovery play; after all, it had once reached the dizzy heights of almost $30. When it fell below $10, you'd think the share might have begun to bottom out but it turned out the floor was a hell of a long way down. Despite trying to reinvent itself in a number of new guises, in spite of the launch of new software, it soon tumbled below $2, and there were many people who just could not believe their eyes. They can't believe it even now!
On the Internet generally there's been a pattern of retrenchment and consolidation, and some merging of traditional and online businesses. Some hopeful newcomers are beginning to run out of money, but in the US many companies managed to go public early, so they built up big cash reserves by tapping into the stock market's enthusiasm. Many just did not have time to go public and have lost the chance. Now the dust is settling, a smaller group of companies and competitors remain. The search for profitability and survival has begun in earnest.
At Food.com, a business run by a former head of Disney's movie studios, half the firm's 100 employees have been sacked to save enough money to last another two to three years, during which time the company hopes for better things.
In the online gambling business, software development companies like Starnet and Cryptologic are paying the price for all kinds of mistakes that have resulted in the shares of both companies taking a nosedive.
Companies that have weathered the storm, and have the potential to dominate large swathes of the Internet business, have now started to emerge. Those with cash and an established track record are in the strongest position.
The wealth generated by the first wave of Internet pioneers has been staggering. Prospects for future growth remain huge.
"The Internet has created value more quickly than any other technology trend we know of," says Peter Bradshaw, a European Internet analyst at Merrill Lynch.
It is estimated that even after the stock market decline, the value of the US Internet sector is still more than $800 billion. Optimism is not just US-based. European Internet users are expected to jump from 72 million now to over 200 million by 2004. In India, there are only 3 million Internet users but that figure is expected to reach 100 million 8 years from now. All over the world, governments who make public policy have not been hostile to the Internet so the momentum for rapid development has a favorable wind behind it.
Chairman of online retailer Webvan, George Shaheen, is optimistic: "This is the beginning of a huge societal change. We couldn't stop it even if we wanted to."
There's no doubt that from the end of 1998 until the middle of this year, there was a stock market bubble. People are still arguing about how it happened but they all agree on one thing: Given the right conditions, the same thing could happen again.
The Internet investment phenomenon has created and destroyed fortunes worldwide. Some people became famous, others lost or damaged their reputations. For bankers, retailers, entrepreneurs, investors, it changed the rules, perhaps permanently.
Cleaning out the crooks from the online gambling business has been a top priority, and Gambling Magazine has never glossed over the truth but instead has published material that others wish had never seen the light of day. The major mistakes made by some companies amount to a lack of accountability, lack of respect for players, the almost total neglect of responsibility. Instead of being accountable to shareholders, the crooks in the business treat them as gullible players who can be manipulated with deadly ease.
The good news is that the chips for these crooks have been down for some time. All they need now is to be left alone a little longer with a good length of rope. Make it long enough, and they'll do themselves so much damage they'll probably disappear for good.
