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Permanent link to archive for 01/01/08. Monday, January 8, 2001
 

Q&A: Marc Andreessen on electronic commerce. (01/08/2001 19:41 EST) This is excerpted from a Question and Answer article in the Silicon Valley News. The following is quoted from the article, and the rest is worth reading if you're trying to make sense out of the recent Internet boom/bust cycle we just went through.

"Marc Andreessen was a 23-year-old programmer when he helped found Netscape Communications Corp., whose free Web browser and spectacular initial public offering set off the Internet boom."

"Q What were you thinking as the boom reached its peak?

"A At first I was thinking, ``I can't believe it. This can't possibly be real.'' And then everything is succeeding and you've got companies out there like iVillage and others that are worth billions of dollars, and after a while you just say, ``Well, hell, all right. I guess it all must make sense. Everybody on Wall Street seems convinced.''

"It's a classic bubble thing. The bubble only bursts when there's no more people left to convert into being true believers, which is what happened in March."

He goes on to point out that Netscape originally was a normal business founded to make a profit by selling a good product before they were forced into giving their browser away by Microsoft. He discusses his views on what AOL and Amazon.com did to get customers and come to dominate their market segments. He mentions a little about his new venture, LoudCloud.

It's not a long article, and he makes some interesting observations.

** JD **   8:09:39 PM


© Copyright 2001 John L. Dilbeck, jd@johndilbeck.com.