Startup.com (2001)

Traces the birth and failure of new media company govWorks.com.

Directors:

Chris Hegedus, Jehane Noujaim

Stars:

Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, Tom Herman, Kenneth Austin

10 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kaleil Isaza Tuzman	...	Himself
Tom Herman	...	Himself
Kenneth Austin	...	Himself
Tricia Burke	...	Herself
Roy Burston	...	Himself
David Camp	...	Himself
Dora Glottman	...	Herself
Julian Herbstein	...	Himself
Christina Ortez	...	Herself
Jonathan Agus	...	Himself (as Jonathan Agus)
Chieh Cheung	...	Himself
Sean Coar	...	Himself
Ambika Conroy	...	Herself
Patrick Cromer	...	Himself
Jerry Greenberg	...	Himself

Storyline

Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman have had a dream since they became friends at age fifteen: get rich by developing their own dot com company, in some aspect of computer technology interface. Now in their late twenties, they have now come up with the idea they believe will make their riches, namely as Tom refers to it, "parking tickets": the company will be the on-line revenue collection interface for municipal governments. GovWorks.com came into existence in May 1999 with only an idea. The process of building the business focuses on obtaining venture capital based solely on the idea, with the actual mechanics of the website seemingly almost an afterthought, or at least one left primarily to the hired help. Regardless of the strength of the idea itself in raising this capital, another initial problem they face is what they see as non-commitment by a third partner, Kaleil's friend Chieh Cheung. In early 2000, they do manage to go live with their product to what seems to be a promising...

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Plot Keywords:

business | venture capital | friendship | dotcom | industrial espionage | 

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Taglines:

The rise and fall of the American dream.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site [Spain]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 June 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Business sto diadyktio

Filming Locations:

Highland Capital Partners - Two International Place, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,118, 13 May 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,280,975, 2 September 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

Noujaim Films, Pennebaker Hegedus Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 105 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jehane Noujaim, the videographer and producer, began the project when she was the roommate of the documentary's principal character, Kaleil Tuzman. She was previously a producer at MTV.

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Connections

Spoofed in ESoda.com (2005)

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Soundtracks

Curb Urchin
Written by Stephen Ulrich
Performed by Big Lazy

User Reviews

Great movie, but you either love it or are confused by it

I myself worked in one of the ubiquitous .com's in the late 90's and this movie is frightening realistic, from the long hours and technical glitches right down to the embarrassingly lame cheers.

I read on the web the filmmakers set out to document their friends impending wealth and business fortune with this documentary, but what they got was the complete opposite. I think that speaks volumes for expectations during this era.

I feel like some of the other IMDb reviews are off the mark. Yes, the movie is sometimes hard to follow. But it was shot in the Cinéma-vérité genre and that is to be expected. It is an uncompromising real life look, and it is up to the viewer to decipher; sometimes this works sometimes not. Some previous reviews wondered how the company folded. Honestly its a movie about an internet company, why do you think it failed? Having said this, I think more could have been shown of why Tom got the axe and the love relationships of Kaliel could have been better developed.

According to the DVD the producers cut some realistic (and boringly technical) scenes to focus more on the relationship between Tom and Kaleil. This is where they succeeded. They are trying to tell the story of the company downfall through the interplay of these two characters. It is fascinating because it is real. The most compelling part is the coorelation between their relationship eroding as does the company. Viewed from that point of view this movie is really not a documentary. Nevertheless it is entertaining and gripping. What amazed me was the unfettered greed and their enormous hubris which prevented them from acknowledge their role in this sinking ship.