Dot-coms are learning to think long-term - at least when they go out of business.
The Internet company death toll keeps mounting, layoffs keep hitting record levels and matters are only expected to get worse. Dot-coms face a slowing economy, a volatile financial setting and the approach of a bleak winter in which many consumer commerce outfits won't get nearly what they need from Santa.
The carcasses of online jobs and entire companies continue piling up. Music retailer Boxman.com laid off all 120 employees after failing to find a buyer. Beauty retailer Eve.com dumped most of its work force as it prepared to die. Stamps.com cut 240 jobs, or 40 percent of its employees, after clearing out its front office.
StockPower.com, which did direct sales of stock from corporations to investors, just seemed to blow away.
Drugstore.com is cutting its payroll 10 percent in response to gaping financial losses.
All told, dot-com layoffs soared to 5,677 in October, up 18 percent from September, according to recruiting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
But amid the carnage, some managements are trying to bow out gracefully. Kibu.com, a teen site backed by Netscape Communications founder Jim Clark, threw in the towel before its capital ran out. Unlike most Internet casualties, the employees received substantial severance packages and online outplacement help.
Kibu is not alone. WebHouse Club, the Priceline.com affiliate selling groceries and gasoline, also saw the handwriting on the wall and is winding up its affairs deliberately, rather than suddenly disappearing from the virtual face of the Earth like so many old-news New Economy outfits.
In an industry where ignominious failure can be merely a prelude to business reincarnation, dot-com executives are taking steps to minimise the effects of their fiascoes on employees - and investors, who they hope will come back to support the entrepreneurs the next time around. "Memories are long, and venture capitalists are a very tight-knit group," said GartnerGroup Research Director Robert Labatt. "If you treat your investors fairly, you have people you can go back to."
Unfortunately, more Internet firms will soon face similar issues. Much of the online medical industry is on life support. MotherNature.com saw another bid to survive come to grief, as holding company Sitestar turned aside. MarchFirst, with earnings vastly below expectations, and Zentropy Partners, which laid off 150 people, or one-fifth its work force, joined the line of struggling Net consultants. And, analysts agree, plenty more lumps of coal are waiting to be distributed.
