boo

"For Goldman, buying stakes in companies like boo wasn’t just a great money-making opportunity; it was a way of infiltrating Europe’s internet scene before things really took off. The extent of"

"The avalanche of media attention had been wonderful, yet it was a great distraction when our thoughts were turning with increasing urgency to the launch of the website. The person who found the situation most difficult was Patrik: he had to watch quietly from the sidelines as the world féted Leander and Malmsten. Yet he was a founder too who had played his full part in making boo what it was. Remaining discreetly in the shadows was not something that came naturally to Patrik, and it soon became clear that he was not going to tolerate it for much longer. I could hardly blame him. It was a bit like running a movie studio and being told you couldn’t go to celebrity parties."

"Halpern got straight to the point. ‘I don’t want to waste your time or mine,’ he said, ‘so I’ll tell you exactly what I think. You have two assets: your brand and your back end logistics and fulfilment platform. We aren’t really interested in the brand. But we think we can probably do something with the other bits.’ It was strange. I knew exactly what sort of company Texas Pacific was, but this verdict still surprised me. ‘If we’re to invest,’ Halpern continued, ‘a good chunk of our money is going to go on paying off debts. We’re also going to have to do a lot of restructuring to make a profitable business out of this. You have really good people, young creative people, but most of them are going to have to go. You need to think, can you run this business with fifty people? If we come in, we’ll need to do some radical things.’ It was beginning to sound very nasty indeed, but once again Halpern managed to surprise me. ~ ‘So what I’m saying is that we’ll only do this if you’re prepared to accept a zero valuation.’ Jay was open-mouthed. “Zero? You mean nothing? You’re saying this company is worth nothing?’ ‘Tm saying those are the only terms that we’d accept.’ But he pointed out that the present shareholders could potentially get some return on their investment in a couple of years or so once boo started making money. “You and your shareholders need to be prepared emotionally to deal-with this. If you are, then we can keep talking. ‘If not, there’s no point in taking things any further.’"

"Like Jay, Luke had a clear philosophy about what he wanted from boo. “There are three things this company can offer me,’ he said to me over a drink one night. ‘Power, fame and money. You have all three. That’s OK because you’re the boss. I only want power and money.’ -"

"broader implications. A few months earlier, Arnault had created an investment company called europ@web in which most of his internet investments, including boo, were now held. His plan was to sell a chunk of europ@web through an IPO within the next few months and he was understandably anxious to avoid anything that might shake the confidence of an already jittery internet sector. Then waiting in the wings were Texas Pacific and"