vincent-27 2 Trillion dollars down the drain in 6 days? Just think what that money could do in the world. It amazes me how people jump all over the government for overspending and being inefficient, well at least they provide some kind of service, where did all that money go? This movie documents the rise and fall of a startup dot com company during the late 90's, much like the movie "startup.com" did (a far superior film). Kozmo.com was just one of the many companies that went bust when investors started to wake up from their dreamy fog and realize that, hey, businesses need to make money. What a concept! But I guess that's what investors do, they perpetually look for a way to make a lot of money by doing very little. How could they expected such a hair-brained idea as having everything delivered to your door in less than an hour and actually make money at it. Just because you can do it on the internet? Big deal, people could order stuff from the phone for a long time before that, and even order stuff through their TV. Just because you make that first step a little easier doesn't change the fact that you have an enormous infrastructure to support. Even I realized early on in the internet days that the only way internet companies could make money is if they delivered information only, not actual hard goods. That's what ebay does, that's what google does, yahoo etc. Other than that a website is nothing more than a sophisticated pamphlet. And I thought these guys were supposed to be smart? I guess greed can blind your judgement. There is a scene in the movie, just before Kozmo is supposed to IPO, where Joe Park is at a party (probably drunk) and yelling into a microphone about how great the company is. The look in his eyes is kind of scary, he just seems to be overcome with swimming in so much money. One thing he fails to see, and so did most of the other companies, that raising $250 million in VC funds is NOT the same as actually MAKING $250 million, which is much harder. Didn't they realize that these people were INVESTING in their company, not GIVING them free money? And I thought these guys worked at Goldman Sachs? Here's a hint guys, if somebody's idea seems crazy, it probably is.

biddiesmama I was unable to watch the documentary, but I would still like to comment on Kozmo.com. My husband worked for the company based in Washington, DC and they did discriminate. They would only deliver in certain areas, preferably the upper class neighborhoods. Also they treated their employees like dodo. They overworked them and in return instead of pay raises and bonuses they gave them stock in the company. Whoop Dido a company that went belly up a year later......Kozmo was a just not well put together. Dot com business really need to be thought out. I believe it was rushed and that is why the downfall was so hard. It put a lot of people out of work at a really bad time.

daj224 Well, we knew trouble was headed the company's way when they couldn't get the utility bills paid. Or when the payroll procedure was out of whack. All this while thwarting the flurry of calls from top Wall Street investment banks and leading the investment community to believe that a tenuous relationship to the internet was all it took to catapult the company towards an astronomical market cap.In e-dreams, as with Startup.com (another fine documentary about the e-retail debacle), we are taken a roller coaster ride through one entrepreneurs dream and its contrapuntal relationship with the grim realities of corporate America. At one point in the film, the co-founder bemoans how control of the company was turned over to seasoned veterans. Welcome to the party, pal. Early 2000 saw 2 trillion dollars worth of company and investor money wiped out in about six trading sessions. Kozmo.com is caught in all of this, transforming from 10 employees in a decrepit, NYC warehouse to a 1,100 arsenal in ten major cities after collecting over 280 million dollars from VCs. In the end, sadly, Kozmo was out the door as quick as the Seinfield character that spawned its name, laying off all employees, jettisoning its founders, and liquidating--at one point, giving away--its assetts. Yes, even the orange fleeces had to go.Ultimately the story about CEO hubris, contingency plans M.I.A, and IPO fever, e-dreams reminds us how ludicrous the whole Internet bubble was to begin with. In the long run, profits rule the day, not good PR.D.J. NYC Aug 2004

Charles B. Owen e-Dreams is a real-life view of Kozmo.com, a startup Internet company during the final heyday of the net IPO's. Kozmo followed the traditional dot-com business plan of raise financing, raise more financing, then IPO, only the market crash tanked their IPO, leaving them unable to function after burning of $280 million of investment funds. Of all of the various businesses created during that craze, few can approach the absolutely ludicrous level of stupidity the Kozmo business plan (if it can be called that) represented. One analyst computed that Kozmo would have to grow large enough to hire virtually the entire popular of the United States in order to make a profit that justified the target stock price. I really believe Wonsuk Chin, the director, recognized that and planned to show the rise and fall from the beginning. As an inside view of Kozmo, the film is sometimes fascinating, showing how financing ideas developed, and often enlightening, demonstrating stupidities like failing to pay the utility bill or not having paychecks ready on time. It is also fascinating in its complete omission of any details about running the company. The lack of a business plan is evidenced in every day's operation. But, it also has long periods of absolute boredom. We see lots of plane travel that adds nothing to the narrative and near the end of the movie there is a long monologue by Joseph Park that seems to go on forever. (Spoiler here, though most everyone knows how this ends, anyway) But, what I did not like about this film is that the ending was decidedly unsatisfying. As a critic at the time of the egregious waste in the Internet era, I wanted to see them close the doors and recognize that their idea was a failure. Instead, we are cut short at the departure of Joseph Park, who leaves feeling that the only thing he did wrong was not choosing the right financing model. The ultimate climax of the movie, the failure of Kozmo.com, is left to footnotes at the end. You get the impression that these are criminals who get away with it, and that's just not the point of the film.