Startup.com - what a ride

Startup.com - what a ride

I found Startup.com to be an authentic and intriguing film.  It was reminiscent of what I experienced as an insider to a startup company around the same time this film was made.  Kaleil and Tom, in addition to their deep friendship, had a great idea to solve a problem, enough charisma to talk their way through meetings with VCs , and friends and family willing to help them via angel funding.  Their downside was in not following a business plan but rather chasing their competition (eGov), not having a hiring strategy and therefore growing too quickly, not addressing critical issues in their platform, and a severe case of bad judgement and inflated ego. 

I find it interesting to learn that Tom and Kaleil went on to work together again at two startups; Recognition Group and JumpTV.  The way in which Tom exited govWorks, I would have thought the two would not work together again.  With a quick search of the internet I learned that Tom has since lectured on “What I learned from Startup.com” and in 2005 Kaleil wrote and published The Entrepreneur's Success with St. Martin's Griffin.  https://smile.amazon.com/Entrepreneurs-Success-Kit-5-Step-Business/dp/0312329458/ref=smi_se_mit_rcol_smi_2537928482?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&pldnCmp=rcol&pldnCrt=my-impact

After watching Startup.com, I can’t say I would buy a book on entrepreneurship from Kaleil.  I found him to be arrogant and irritating, at best.  And though Tom took what seems to be a more insightful approach to cashing in on the fame found after Startup.com premiered at Sundance, I don’t know that I would pay to attend one of his lectures either.