Startup.com

Pros: I felt like we were exposed to things that only insiders would know.
Cons: This movie hit a little too close to home for me.

Preamble
I wasn't intending on reviewing this movie. Honestly, I just thought it was a good way to blow 1 1/2 hours of time while I folded laundry or picked up.

The main reason I picked this out at Blockbuster is because I am a...

Pros: Some lessons on what not to do.
Cons: Not really about business. More about the personalities of its founders

I heard of Startup.com for the first time on CNN. Then, the same week, I watched Ebert and Roeper review it on their show on TV. This was about a year ago. I was intrigued and amused and wanted to watch it right away. Didn’t have...

Pros: gives you a real insight to the creation and downfall of a business
Cons: unfortunately since it's a dotcom the lifespan was rather short

How I Heard About It

After reading kristinafh's review and hearing about this movie from a couple other's I decided I would pick it up next time I was at Blockbuster. Well, the other night I was there and managed to find this...

Pros: This is a very funny movie
Cons: It's funny because it's true.

"You'll be psyched to see this guys fail, because they are such idiots," said the guy behind me in line to get our cars inspected. "But, what ever you do, you have to see Startup.com, the movie."

I'm in marketing for high tech. Yes, this...

Pros: Honest portrayal of the rise and fall of a company, and perhaps friendship.
Cons: Almost want a "Where Are They Now?" segment.

Two friends embark on a vacation to explore their imaginations, their business sense, and to prove that determination is all you need to be successful. That, and a few million dollars in the bank. Startup.com is a documentary that follows the...

Pros: Powerful realism and behind the scenes views, stark reality of the instability of the industry
Cons: None

Scientific power is like inherited wealth; attained without discipline. You read about what others have done, and you take the next step. You can do it very young. You can make progress very fast. - Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park)
...

Pros: uniquely intimate inside look at a dotcom's business dealings and a deteriorating friendship
Cons: I wanted to know more specifics. The DV look has a long way to go.

The documentary Startup.com provides an incisive lesson for entrepreneurs of all kinds—a good idea in and of itself is not enough to create success. Tried and true business skills must always be at hand to guide one’s well-intentioned embryo of an...

Pros: Good characters and a great story
Cons: none

I was an undergraduate in college during the time when this movie took place. During the late 1990's there was probably no other environment where Internet startup fever struck deepest and more quickly than the college campus. Everyone either had an...

Pros: Like being there. Very candid documentary. Well-crafted narrative.
Cons: Ignores the details of the actual project.

Startup.com tells it like it was. Seeing this film feels like reliving the bubble days of 1999 and early 2000. I kept saying, “yes, I remember that” to elements from the huge billboard in downtown Manhattan sponsored by Doubleclick (back when they had...

Pros: Nice documentary about the Internet
Cons: Not enough details about the product and other personal details left unanswered.

A few years ago, it looked like the world would be ruled by twenty somethings. People who had good ideas and not so good ones, who were inexplicably given mountains of cash to fulfill their dreams on the Internet. Then, about a year ago, that all went...

Pros: As real as it got.
Cons: For those who lived it, this movie probably won't present anything new.

Did you happen to live outside of Silicon Valley during the dot-com boom? No worries. Startup.com will give you a hyper-realistic taste of what the whole phenomenon was like.

I saw the earliest version, before it was converted from...

Pros: Very timely subject for a documentary
Cons: Not as interesting as print reviews lead me to expect

Having been involved with some startup companies myself, I didn't find this documentary as interesting as I'd hoped.

The gist of the movie: two friends decide to go into business. They have high hopes, a real product, and clients, but despite...

Pros: Unique choice for a documentary.
Cons: Needed more editing, and the characters seemed a bit forced

The only thing that saves this film from getting 2 stars from me is that I recognize some of the difficulties that must have presented themselves given the subject of this documentary, and the initial goals of the project. To start out, this film was...

Pros: An illustrative example of how thousands of businesses start evolve and die every year.
Cons: Businesses start, evolve and die every year? So what exactly?

*1/2 rating for Startup.com

Thousands of businesses start, grow, and fail if not every year, certainly every decade. Hundreds of dotcoms, which many investors were zealous about in 1996,'97, went kerploosh in 2000 when Allan Greenspan decided...

Pros: Poignant, timely, very real and very highly recommended.
Cons: Jumpy camera work.

If you have even the slightest interest in the Internet, business, or the combination of the two (and you must if you’re reading this review on Epinions .com), you’ll find Startup.com to be a fascinating documentary film.

Startup.com follows...