From Rana Foroohar’s Don’t Be Evil pg 82:
It seems not so much has changed since 2000, when start-ups like Pets.com were able to go public and jack up share prices even as they were losing hundreds of millions of dollars. Yes, the digital ecosystem has since grown, changed, and deepened. And yes, today it is harder for companies to receive funding just by sticking .com behind their names. But now, as then, you do not necessarily need profits—or even paying customers—to draw investor interest. All you need are “users” in a hot market niche. I’ve always felt that there was some measure of ingenious scam in the whole paradigm.
Mark Carrigan 