“In an ominous sign for this Internet boomtown, the authors of a new study project that about 80% of the remaining dot-com companies in the Bay area will collapse in the next year, wiping out some 30,000 jobs.”

“Heavyweights, such as Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble, are seeking to fund young companies in exchange for stock or exclusive rights to future products. The profile of so-called corporate venture capitalists has risen as traditional VCs, burned by excessive Internet investments, make fewer bets on start-ups and as more companies join such tech giants as Intel and Microsoft in funding start-ups.”

“Whether you use a professional business appraiser or attempt a self-evaluation, it is helpful to understand the basic methods of valuation that may be used to determine a value for your company — or a company you are thinking of acquiring.”

“Whether you use a professional business appraiser or attempt a self-evaluation, it is helpful to understand the basic methods of valuation that may be used to determine a value for your company — or a company you are thinking of acquiring.”

“CCR, also sometimes called the Sales Closing Rate or Sales Closing Ratio, is the ratio of orders to site visits. It is the measure of how well your site can make a sale to a shopper, and is considered by many to be the most important metric in your toolbox. Also notice that, logically, it is the result of all of the factors that go into building a site that ‘knows how to sell.’”

“Some inventions ‘take the world by storm’ (archetype: the Sony Walkman). Others seem to fail, lie dormant for decades, but when ‘their time has come’, their use grows quickly, even explosively (archetype: the fax machine). Most achieve slow penetration at first, then their adoption grows more quickly, but later slows down again. A broad social psychological / sociological theory called Diffusion of Innovations (DoI) Theory purports to describe the patterns of adoption, explain the mechanism, and assist in predicting whether and how a new invention will be successful.”

“Your Business Plan is your road map to the future. The success of your new business will be in direct proportion to the effort you put into researching and preparing your business plan. Business Plans ensure your success and are required by financial institutions. While it will appear that the plan is repetitious in some areas presenting the material in context to each heading is important. Sometimes the reader of your business plan will go directly to the headings that are of the most interest, rather than reading the entire report from beginning to end.”

“Customers today are not shy about telling companies that their processes need improvement. In response, virtually every company has designated PITs (process improvement teams) to address inefficiencies in billing, customer service, inventory management, and virtually every other process that touches customers. Process improvement is even more crucial during economic slowdowns, times when execs seek to trim expenses and increase revenues.”

“Practioners on both coasts discuss new technologies, IPOs on the Web and changes in SEC and IRS regulations. The following is an excerpt from an electronic panel discussion among seven venture capital practitioners that is currently taking place on the Law Journal EXTRA! Web site. Readers can view the full conversation at www.ljx.com. Law Journal EXTRA! Is an online service for the legal community from the publishers of The National Law Journal.”

“Among the harsh realities one stands out. Of all the hot air generated during the great bull market of the late 1990’s, none propelled stock prices further than the notion that new economy stocks were a breed apart and should not be held to stringent, old economy investing standards. Internet companies and cutting-edge telecommunications concerns, after all, were revolutionizing the world. So, the thinking went, their share prices deserved equally radical valuation methods. Out went traditional methods used by securities analysis that prized earnings. In came freewheeling measures of worth, like revenue growth, Web site traffic and even customer ’share of mind.’”

“For all of its struggles — with its balance sheet, its stock, the union drive, and layoffs — Amazon.com has done one thing brilliantly: customer service. I placed my first order with Amazon in 1997 and have been a steady customer since. In four years of making purchases for myself and for others, I’ve found what I needed, ordered it, received a flurry of emails about my orders, and then gotten either thank-you notes or what I ordered. I’ve never had to contact Amazon about any matter. I have had, in essence, no customer service from Amazon. Put another way, I have had such perfect customer service, the service itself has been transparent. That is exactly what Amazon wants. The goal is perfect customer service through no customer service.”

“Among the harsh realities one stands out. Of all the hot air generated during the great bull market of the late 1990’s, none propelled stock prices further than the notion that new economy stocks were a breed apart and should not be held to stringent, old economy investing standards. Internet companies and cutting-edge telecommunications concerns, after all, were revolutionizing the world. So, the thinking went, their share prices deserved equally radical valuation methods. Out went traditional methods used by securities analysis that prized earnings. In came freewheeling measures of worth, like revenue growth, Web site traffic and even customer ’share of mind.’”

“Until recently, advertising on the Internet stayed in one place and didn’t speak until spoken to, or at least clicked on. Now, as even the biggest Internet sites struggle with a sharp decline in ad revenue, sites are letting their remaining advertisers occupy a much larger portion of their pages, as well as create ads that move, make noise and otherwise do whatever it takes to attract attention.”

“B2B exchanges can’t improve the efficiency of every element of the supply chain. An improved information flow is what they really have to offer.” (Requires free registration.)

“For sellers, B2B e-marketplaces embody the Internet’s least attractive tendencies. Is there an alternative?” (Requires free registration.)