Media Reviews
On November 13, 1998, Internet startup theglobe.com opened on Wall Street with the largest IPO in stock history. Literally overnight, the online community's co-founder, 24-year-old Paternot, became a multimillionaire and dot-com prodigy in the eyes of the adoring media. But, as he documents in this giddy, fast-moving memoir, fortune can turn quickly: less than two years later, theglobe.com's stock price plummeted close to zero, Paternot's personal wealth evaporated and the press savagely attacked him and his partner, Todd Krizelman, as global poster boys of Internet excess. Paternot briskly recounts the story of his rise and fall, briefly sketching his childhood before he arrived at Cornell University, where he and Krizelman started theglobe.com in 1994. After graduating, they moved the company to New York City's nascent Silicon Alley. Paternot would party all night at trendy Manhattan nightclubs before hopping on a private jet to woo big-name investors. But when the stock price began to tumble, the press blamed Paternot and Krizelman-even though, as Paternot points out, theglobe.com was one of the few start-ups actually turning a profit. The sustained attacks took their toll, and in August 2000, with the stock at just $2 a share, Paternot resigned as CEO. Rarely bitter (though the collapse of other dot-coms did give him some vindication), he wisely focuses on the day-to-day mania of the mid-and late '90's Internet revolution, vividly showing what it felt like to run a brand-new company racing headlong across unknown terrain. (Sept.) (Publishers Weekly, July 23, 2001) Mr. Paternot--whose sole resume entry is chief executive--has written a book about his vertiginous experience as a Web chief, called A Very Public Offering. Sample Chapter heading: 'Theglobe Faces Death and I Become Addicted to the Nightlife'. (The Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2001) Their story begins in 1994 at Cornell University, where the two college juniors dreamed up a Web site that hosted discussion groups and homepages. Within a year, they'd attracted a $20 million investment from former Alamo Rent-A-Car chief Michael Egan. Four years later, Theglobe.com debuted on the Nasdaq with that was then the biggest one-day run-up ever. That gave the boys a lotto-size payoff for a company whose business plan could be summed up with the word community. As in any good myth, the heroes got their comeuppance, sort of. By August 2000, Theglobe.com's stock was tanking and co-CEOs Krizelman and Paternot were forced out. In those six years, they tasted fame, fortune and a measure of infamy. A Very Public Offering is Paternot's recollection of that fleeting adventure. Paternot, who reportedly hopes to star in a film version of his book, brings about as much skill to writing (even with the help of Details editor Andrew Essex) as he did to running Theglobe.com. His account is unsophisticated ( As CEO of a public company, you've got to be very careful with what you say, ), his language sophomoric (Wayne Huizenga is this massive businessman ) and his analysis self-serving (he was the victim of hackers, message board touts, and acquisition-crazed Egan and the media). Still, Paternot's book is interesting in a car-wreck sort of way. Schadenfreude-lovers will enjoy his breathless account of his own rise and fall. And would-be entrepreneurs with time on their hands might want to read the book as a cautionary tale. - Amy Bernstein (The Industry Standard, August 6-13, 2001) .. .the most interesting of these books... (New Statesman, 10 December 2001) .. .this is one of the best and makes for a terrific Christmas present for anyone of an entrepreneurial bent. (Business Plus, December 2001)
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