Once You're Lucky,Twice You're Good Hardback - 2008

by Lacy, Sarah

The captivating story of the mavericks who emerged from thedotcom rubble to found the multibillion-dollar companies taking theWeb into the twenty-first century

Everyone has heard the story of the Internet Bubble. Beginningwith Netscape's IPO in 1996, billions flowed into Internetstartups, and companies with no revenues and shaky businessplans earned sky-high valuations on Wall Street. It wasthe era of paper millionaires, $800 office chairs, and SuperBowl ads for dotcoms. Then in 2000 the Bubble burst, withthe NASDAQ losing 75 percent of its value and hundreds ofcompanies closing up shop. It was all written off to 'irrationalexuberance,' and everyone moved on.

Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good is the story of theentrepreneurs who learned their lesson from the bust andin recent years have created groundbreaking new Webcompanies. The second iteration of the dotcoms dubbedWeb 2.0 is all about bringing people together. Social networkingsites such as Facebook and MySpace unite friendsonline; YouTube lets anyone posts videos for the world tosee; Digg.com allows Internet users to vote on the mostrelevant news of the day; Six Apart sells software thatenables bloggers to post their viewpoints online; and Slidehelps people customize their virtual selves.

Business reporter Sarah Lacy brings to light the entireWeb 2.0 scene: the wide-eyed but wary entrepreneurs, thehated venture capitalists, the bloggers fueling the hype,the programmers coding through the night, the twenty-somethingmillionaires, and the Internet 'fan boys' eagerfor all the promises to come true.