I'm familiar with the story but had never read that. It's fascinating as a time capsule into the 2001 web. A crude commenting system, best wishes from people who think that a company-destroyed lawsuit could be endured and a successful business could emerge in the midst of a recession.
>Ethan and I came up with the “Zombie Team” test for figuring out whether or not someone is ready to work on an intense project, be it a start-up or otherwise. The test is this: If zombies suddenly sprung from the earth, could you trust the perspective team member to cover your back? Would they tell you if they got bit? Most importantly would you give them the team’s only gun if you knew they were the better shot? If the answer is no to any of those questions you need to let them get eaten by the cubicle wasteland of corporate culture, because they aren’t ready for this kind of work.
This is the best highlight for me. It really says a lot about the kind of work startups are. We may not realise it, but really we are macho warriors fighting zombies and getting The Chick in the end
Wow. Dunno if it's awesome or embarrassing to see reference to a document I wrote over 4 years ago in this article. Oh shit... I'm 31 now!
For those curious (I never got around to part 2), boompa ended well. After turning down an early exit, we shifted focus to comicvine.com and ended up growing that site to its current position as the largest comic book site on the web. Ethan and I eventually partnered with some other old CNET veterans and formed Whiskey Media, which runs giantbomb.com and tested.com, among other sites.
If there's anything I've learned in this business since I wrote that article it's that you're lucky if you can maintain a 50% win/loss ratio with each product your launch (though I applaud you lucky bastards that got it right the first time). My advice continues to be to ditch and move on if your product doesn't catch on within the first six months. If for no other reason than it keeps you engaged and excited on what's coming up next. Sometimes what you think will work just doesn't catch on and that's totally OK. Maybe your next idea will.
Great list of failures. Perfect for mass pre-post--mortem analysis or at the very least, a collection of warnings to avoid for future startups...Thanks for putting that together!
