Sure, many of the dotcoms that disappeared during the Internet crash in 2000 'fell victim' to spending their funding money on $150 Dean and Deluca cookie baskets in each of their 15 international offices.

But even among the high-profile dot bombs, there were ideas and concepts that consumers actually appreciated a lot. And good ideas can always be revived, albeit in a different form and with a different cost structure.

Which is why TRENDWATCHING.COM predicts a SECOND .COMING for hundreds of failed dotcom ideas and concepts (mind you, just the ideas and concepts, not necessarily the defunct companies ;-), whether they're about delivering snacks in urban settings or selling pet food in large quantities.

To add to the excitement, these second-chance ideas will enter a new, much more attractive arena:

• More than 600 million consumers are now online worldwide. (Nua.com)
• E-commerce continues to grow at a fast pace, with 2002's online Christmas sales breaking all records, surpassing 7.9 billion USD in the US. Holiday sales in Europe were even higher. (Gartner)
• Both remaining and new dotcoms are more focused on the bottom line and thus (slowly) coming back in favour with venture capitalists. (Business Week)
• Compared to the late '90s, start-ups in most industries face far fewer competitors, diminishing the need for hasty, too-grandiose build outs.

For those interested in resurrecting a potentially highly successful e-commerce venture, may we suggest mining F***edcompany.com for failed companies with much-loved ideas? ;-)
www.f***edcompany.com -- www.businessplanarchive.org