Fear of Investing in BlackPlanet

Go For Broke

Before MySpace and Facebook, there was BlackPlanet. BlackPlanet.com, a social media site targeted to Black users, was immediately popular when it launched in 1999. It allowed users to create their own personal web pages, set up dating profiles, and look for jobs. But venture capitalists and other investors largely overlooked BlackPlanet during the dot-com boom. Meanwhile, other companies like theGlobe.com saw investment money pour in and their valuation skyrocket in the public markets, despite having weak business models and a tricky road to profitability.

How did venture capitalists choose which dot-coms to invest in, and how did their blueprint for investment tip the scales to certain types of companies? And how did the rush to ride the dot-com bubble lead to the crash?

From Epic Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Hosted by Julia Furlan.

Special thanks to Aliya King, author of the article "The Black Internet Gold Rush That Wiped Away $75 Million in 18 Months." You can read the article here.

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