The past year has seen a dramatic decline in the fortunes of many e-commerce ventures. In the calm that always follows such events, it is possible to see things more clearly. People suddenly realised that the optimism they felt about the valuations of various dotcoms was due more to whim than reason.
Speculation created this dramatic rise in the value of internet companies. Such speculation was partly based on optimism in the performance of such ventures, but also due to a
misunderstanding of their nature. From our current position we can see that most of these businesses are no different from others listed on exchanges around the world. They are ordinary companies that are trying to make an ordinary profit. This realism is the overriding legacy of the boom and bust market. The internet is just another means of getting to your market, whatever and wherever that might be.
