The late '90s dot com boom was a time where young men quit jobs, hooked up with friends, started business and, hopefully, got rich. Most of those guys came crashing down as this era of business proved to be nothing but a wild spending spree, where advertising, pretty offices and boasting as to how much capital someone had raised from venture capitalists was commonplace. Startup.com is a documentary that records one company from this era, govworks.com, that started with a handful of friends, grew in size quickly and then collapsed as many others would. Along the way, girlfriends come and go, friendships are strained, software bugs emerge and are quashed, and people come out at the end with little in their pockets.
Startup.com begins when Kaleil Iszaza Tuzman quits his job with Goldman Sachs to become CEO of the then unnamed govworks.com. The company is the brainchild of Kaleil and Tom Herman, who have known each other since high school. They are determined to create a website that will allow individuals to easily interact with their local governments to do such things as pay parking tickets (their principal focus). As Kaleil first joins the venture, it becomes obvious that he is a driven and very strong individual; at one point he wants to name the site "untocesear.com". Tom is a much softer-spoken individual, trying to keep everybody happy and deal with problems. Tom is the technical brains and Kaleil is the money go to guy.
We watch as Kaleil begins making the rounds of venture capitalists, trying to raise the funds to pay for their operation until they can reach their IPO and start seeing some cash influx. He enters into meetings the purpose of which is for companies to hand over millions of dollars all on the speculation that it will pay off in the future. It is here that first possible chinks in the armor of the two friends emerge: Tom starts mentioning ideas in meetings that Kaleil doesn't want to pitch to the investors, and quickly becomes frustrated with his inability to stay on message. Kaliel knows they have to pitch exactly what they want, not a bunch of interesting ideas, but Tom doesn't immediately think the same.
Startup.com unfolds in footage that is shot in a variety of locations, often in cars as individuals race from one meeting to another, and we are presented at one point with a montage of scenes of people walking into and out of buildings, rushing to catch planes, trying their best to rub elbows with big money. You get the distinct impression that the biggest part of this world is showing up to put your hand out and say "Please." Then comes the first major hurdle: a third founder, a co-worker of Kaleil's from Goldman Sachs decides that the risk of the venture is too much, and he wants out, but not without a compensation of $800,000 dollars. They deal with it as best they can and move on.
Startup.com is, in many ways, less a story about a business than about what happens when you go into business with people you know and like and quickly find that business doesn't always allow you to deal with your friend as a friend, but as a business associate. Aside from the capital raising, Startup.com doesn't really give you a good indication of what it is like to run an internet business. In some ways, this isn't necessarily a fault, because it is easy to imagine that a bunch of people huddled around computers staring at screens filled with indecipherable code is probably not to exciting to watch. Even so, as the film marches on, and the months pass as the site is readied, it is difficult to completely grasp all the issues involved in the technical aspects of the company.
The film's major drama really hits when Tom and Kaleil begin having a falling out. Kaleil thinks Tom doesn't have the technical knowledge to really run that aspect of the business, and is also becoming frustrated that Tom wants to be considered a co-CEO and doesn't respect Kaleil's authority. It eventually leads to terse meetings and a letter dismissing Tom from his duties and then the ever famous scenes where a fired employee is escorted out of the building by security. It is somewhat difficult to watch some of these scenes as the individuals involved must fight the pain and hurt of putting their friendship through this wringer.
Startup.com also doesn't really do a spectacular job of showing the company's final days, as the film jump cuts over six months to a single line from Kaleil that reveals that the company is out of money and being sold. Again, despite the desire to show a startup dot com business, the business is sometimes what directors Jehane Noujaim and Chris Hegedus seem least interested in. Despite that, Startup.com is still an interesting look at a brief but fascinating time in these peoples lives and proves enjoyable.
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