Rating: 
Summary: A Hillarious Documentary!
Review: Upon seeing this film for the first time, you may be convinced it is mocumentary - but unfortunately these clowns are for real. Meet the worst of America. Kaliel Tuzman and Tom Herman - two of America's most clueless and embarassing dot-communists. During the internet boom, these uneducated dolts attempted to form a dotcom. GOVWORKS.NET - These idiots did not even know what the name meant - yet in the greed and disgusting ignorance of the dotcom boom - felt they could make millions out of defrauding innocent members of the online communtity.
Luckily the Academy award nominated creaters of famed documentary THE WAR ROOM - were there to record the disgusting greed and stupidity these "men" vomited upon every person in their way.
As a testament to the filmmakers and not the trash of their subjects this film is a great success, we can only hope those evil men do not make a penny off of this film.
Any fan of documentary, film or watching evil humans get what they deserve - need to check out this wonderful flick! 5 stars!
Rating: 
Summary: Great music too!
Review: The musical soundtrack is terrific.
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Sofa Surfers - Sofa Rockers
The Babys - Money (Yup it's the Beatles cover)
Air - Remember
Big Lazy - Princess Nicotine
Big Lazy - Skinless Boneless
Big Lazy - Curb Urchin
Kruder and Dorfmeister / Truby Trio - Donaueschingen
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointed
Review: I was a big fan of "War Room" from the same creative team, but this effort is not a worthy sequel. The guys that start the company (govworks.com) seem to be a couple of dopes out of their element from the word go, and all the "we aren't a business, we are a family" BS was just flat out stupid - no wonder they failed. That aside, what is really lacking in the movie is a narrative that gives the viewer more info on how the company is really doing when the spaghetti hits the fan at various points. We know the business is running into problems, but no real details are provided - just the two guys screaming into their cell phones. Too bad - better organization and background narrative to go along with the human element would have made this a much better documentary.
Rating:
Summary: How the old new economy failed
Review: How could so many companies capitalizing on what is undoubtedly the most amazing media innovation since the television fall so far so fast? Startup.com offers some important clues. Skilfully, the filmakers show us how the protagonists labor to secure tens of millions in financing, and how they use this to build a company with over two hundred employees. Repeatedly, I found myself thinking: "All this, just for a website?" Lone individuals have certainly built much greater things given enough nights hacking away at a laptop (Shawn Fanning and Napster comes to mind). And the really amazing thing is that Tom and Kaleil don't even have a website, or a secure (much less growing) client base by the time they have invested these millions. Could this unproven, top-heavy model be a reason why the Internet economy seemed to fail, even though there's no reason it can't be a success?
Rating: 
Summary: They were doomed from the start
Review: Startup.com is a decent view of modern man. Two freinds start a company that allows New Yorker's to pay thier parking tickets online. The first forty minutes is these two buds getting money. The internet is new and investors see oppurtunities. They get some money and one visit to Silicon Valley foreshadows their future. They are inexperienced. The rest is a downward spiral thet is sometimes shocking of how freinds treat each other in moments of crises. I wish someone would give me 25 million to bomb a business. Worth watching for a documentary, but it will not be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Fly on the wall
Review: Seeing this film left me sad that we don't have similar documentaries available for other periods of great economic change. The realism here, like others have said, is intact. As someone who has lived through a startup I couldn't help but reminisce every single problem and success these guys endured. There's a lesson here if this truly is a recurring blueprint for the birth of a company (possibly captured more succinctly by FJ Lennon in 'Every Mistake in the Book'). While the movie falls short in documenting the real decline of the mechanics of their business it excels in showing the decline on the people side. The greed, insecurities, ambitions, and pettiness of each person is brought out to varying degrees based on how well or badly things are going. The personalities of people who you feel you have a grip on, change before your very eyes. How much more exciting it is to see a 'reality' show that's not provoking people into being interesting. The strains and successes provide the catalyst for an incredibly interesting people dynamic. And ultimately why the dream of working at a company with your best friends invokes the thought that one should be careful what they wish for. The film makers do a particularly strong job of being in the right place at the right time to capture key events. And it all hauntingly reflects my experiences. From the embarassing 'rah rah'/'go team' meetings to the vicious reality of the VC prostitution circuit to the joy of hitting key milestones like the public release of their website or securing money to the greed that sinks its teeth into people who don't pull their weight and are called on it to the daunting realization that all hope is lost and one is in way over one's head to the final reflection on the wreckage that is left - it is all here. For those who sat back during this crazy period in comfortable safe jobs, it is a chance to see what all the fuss was about. For those who lived this, it is a chance to reflect on what seemed like a path we controlled yet in reality was a long corridor we chose to travel down in straitjackets with an exit sign at the end beyond which lies the big train wreck.
Rating:
Summary: Reality.Com
Review: For anyone that has ever wondered what the DotCom world was like.... for anyone that survived the process..... this is your film. It chronicles the process.... the intial euphoria... the VC Funding rollercoaster.... the huge personal price we all paid for a chance to change the world and win the lotto. It shows the immense cost in terms of relationships. It shows the power of greed to pervert even the most longstanding friendships. I took my wife in the hope that she might begin to realize what my life was like the last 5 years..... I found myself realizing, through all of it... I was not the only one. An amazing work. I will see this film many times......
Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining
Review: I loved every minute of this film. You really feel for the characters and the troubles they are going through. Extremely accurate excpet I would have liked to see more of the technical aspects of the company. Toms daughter is the cutest little tyke in the world and provides some very funny, loving moments. I rode the dot com wave, took an internet job, made great money and bailed before it got bad. Now im back at a real job that I love. The whole dot com boom and the inflated cost of housing in the san fran bay area leaves a bad taste. If you are aching to get all those east coasters the hell out of san francisco and laugh your ass off when another internet company goes belly up. THEN YOU MUST SEE THIS MOVIE! watching the company go down in flames, although sad because you start to like the guys, it feels good to watch reallity kick their a$$ out of town.
Rating:
Summary: "Startup" Provides Bird's Eye View of Dot.com Crash
Review: Democratic capitalism is the most successful economic system devised by humankind. Alas, it is also akin to political democracy in that it is unnerving and somewhat yucky to closely observe the actual sausage making process. This documentary is a must see for anybody desiring to further comprehend the recent dot.com economic debacle. Long time chums Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman become partners hoping "to eliminate frustration in the public sector." The GovWorks website encourages citizens to interact financially with their government agencies. One could pay traffic tickets or taxes, and even bid on seized property among a myriad of other possibilities. We get to observe the adventure of this start up until it closes down less than two years later. This business model is a certain winner in the long run. Unfortunately, as Lord Keynes once sardonically remarked, we are all dead in the long run. The free market generally rewards only those successful in a shorter time frame. Much is made of the so called first mover advantage. Conveniently overlooked, however, is the cold fact that the second movers are often able to take advantage of the mistakes committed by the pioneers. Tuzman and Herman soon learn that attempting to hit the proverbial home run also significantly increases the odds of striking out. Our under thirty years of age duo bravely endure the long hours and never ending obstacles threatening their dream. They initially agree to share the power until realizing that this management structure is doomed to fail. The resulting crisis inevitably tests their friendship to the breaking point. Tuzman is something of a lightning rod for abuse and criticism. He makes enemies with relative ease. Is this merely the price of leadership, or does Tuzman possess a damaging character flaw? I suspect the former, but concede that my opinion is highly debatable. Many people gleefully gloat that Tuzman and Herman deserved their comeuppance. I believe that a fair-minded viewer of "Startup.com" will instead credit these two gentlemen with the courage and perhaps foolhardiness to reach for the stars. After all, we are ultimately the beneficiaries of their risk taking and creativity. The film makers should have added another fifteen-twenty minutes to flesh out the rise and fall of GovWorks. This is especially true with their flippant handling of the scene wherein Tuzman is talking to President Bill Clinton. Sitting next to Tuzman is Robert Putnam of "Bowling Alone" fame who was one ofTuzman's Harvard University professors. Coincidentally, it should be added is that Putnam is a specialist in facilitating improved relationships between governments and the common folk. Isn't it therefore reasonable to suppose that Putnam had at least something to do with the very conceptualization of the GovWorks idea? This movie earns four stars. It could have been better, but the finished product still deserves a large audience. Investors and entrepreneurs should not even consider beginning a new dot.com business venture until they have viewed "Startup.com."
Rating:
Summary: Deja Vu...
Review: As a recently laid off dot-commer (our company ran out of cash), I can say this is the most god-honest truthful rendition of how dot coms stormed enthusiastically on the scene and then came fantastically crashing back down to earth. I was amazed at how much face time the founders of govWorks gave to the filmmakers - presumably they did so in the early days so that they could have a Chronicle of their success when they eventually became billionaires, and presumably so in the later days because the camera offered a good venue for a confessional. You get amazingly insider scoop of this company, which at one time had $50M in venture capital. Whatever the reason though I'm glad - as this is a truthful inside the scenes chronicle of one of the most amazing three year periods in American business history. Every dot-commer will have moments of hysterics watching this film - we've seen it alllll before.
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