Alsop: "Oh, These Are the Days of Glory"

Don't Jump... I loved Stewart Alsop's column in Fortune (Mar 19, 2001) describing how, despite his personal technology wipeout, he was feeling grand. After all, Alsop didn't want to win just for being in the right place at the right time (pre-NASDAQ crash)."I should be ready to jump out the window.  But I'm not. I'm having more fun and am more energized than ever. Because now I can tell if I'm making a difference." And this is directly applicable to real estate and the Internet.  Now the heavy lifting starts. What Internet strategy really makes sense? And what can you do to make a difference?

Here's the tough part. As Gary Hamel writes in the March 5, 2001 Fortune, the Internet (like electricity!) makes EVERYBODY more efficient and therefore hurts profit margins. "Any company that plans to make money from 'e' must have a Web strategy that creates unique advantages in delivering that value, and is tough to copy.  As different as Southwest Airlines is from Delta..." Wow, that's difficult to do in the real estate business. 

So let's salute Insignia Financial Group for at least trying -- big time.  An Internet leader, Insignia was an investor in Internet companies, including eziaz, LoopNet, PropertyFirst.com, MyContracts.com, Wireless, Inc., Cubitz.com, Granite Square, Concrete Media, Homestore.com and EdificeRex (10-K, March 29, 2000).  But a year later, on March 1, 2001, Andrew Farkas, Chairman and CEO, announced that Insignia's Internet initiatives had been a "disappointment" and wrote off $16 million.  Farkas stated that the only ongoing financing initiatives will be for "Internet-related platforms being developed, or invested in, by Octane." ... My hat's off to those leaders striving to position their companies for the future.

--Peter Pike / ppike@pikenet.com