Boo.com, the online fashion retailer, was launched amidst a blaze
of publicity in autumn 1999 - and collapsed the following May.
Co-founder of the company Ernst Malmsten is candid in this personal
account of boo's short life. He readily acknowledges naive
decisions, clashes of approach and instances where less vodka and
grapefruit and more early nights might have meant meetings were
handled better. But he also ensures readers appreciate the hard
work and background research undertaken and the prejudices and
obstacles encountered, in an attempt to mitigate the myth that all
the dot.com ventures that bombed so dramatically at the end of the
1990s were poorly thought-out youthful fantasies devoid of
underlying substance. Proactive in spotting a niche market,
Malmsten had successfully undertaken a number of projects,
including an on-line book retailer in his native Sweden, before
embarking on boo. Ex-model and fellow Swede Kajsa Leander became
his business partner in the early days, then with Patrik Hedelin
they began to build the company itself. Ambitious technical targets
were set to ensure they would be the first web e-tailer in their
field. But the trip to success is never an easy ride. 'No matter
what happens, the investor is always your enemy,' warned financier
Jeffrey Leeds at the outset. A great idea, commitment and boundless
enthusiasm were ultimately no substitute for cash. Supporters can
quickly turn away. Funding, personality clashes, software issues,
website delays and glitches in the hardware platform were to
conspire to bring boo.com to its knees at exactly the wrong time,
sending its founders to seek further funds from investors just as
the dot.com bubble burst. The book is a compelling story of the
first high-profile casualty of the e-tailing revolution. The level
of detail is sometimes overwhelming. However, the passion of
Malmsten, Kajsa Leander, their team and those they inspired shines
through until the bitter end. (Kirkus UK)
'Such a dazzling version of the boo phenomenon that as readers turn the pages they will be rooting for the company to survive even though they know the story ends in disaster.' The Sunday Times'boo hoo is an engrossing account of how two childhood friends persuaded some of the world's savviest investors and fashion houses - including Bernard Arnault's LVMH and the Benetton family - to fund a sports and designer clothing company to the tune of $100m.' The Guardian '[his] tale captures the hype and excitement of developing what was seen by many as a ground-breaking company with state-of-the-art technology- Along the way, it tells of endless rounds of raising finance, glamorous parties, staff clashes and bitter sparring with the press.' BBC.co.uk 'The game would be to bring boo.com to market, when it would soon be worth more than $1 billion and make its backers rich. Can all this have happened last year? It seems more like a tale from a different aeon, but the lessons it teaches are timeless.' The Spectator'
One of the hottest books on the shelves at Waterstones.' Sunday Times Style magazine'boo hoo-is 386 pages of oddly gripping text made nearly unbelievable by the amount of money that was given voluntarily to two twentysomething Swedes-the very readable book-adds lurid colour to [the] story.' The Daily Telegraph 'Reading [this] has the fascination of watching a high-speed car crash replayed in slow motion. You know what's going to happen, you can see the confident glow on the drivers' faces, but can't warn them about the curve in the road that is coming to unstick them. Schadenfreude is irresistible. And yet everyone walks away unhurt.' The Independent'With its evocative and colourful narrative, you'll quickly find yourself transported to the duo's world of ridiculous money-fuelled excess. Boo hoo offers up a truly entertaining insight into the frenzied and dizzying world of dotcommery at a time when everybody with a bright idea had a chance to make a million.' Virginstudent.com
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