There is always a temptation to "get rich quick." The impulse is universal, which is probably why there are likely dozens of get rich quick offers jammed into your email's spam folder. The dot com bubble burst of 2000 was due to extremely over-inflated technology stocks. They were inflated because prior to the burst, any company with a dot com in its name received venture capital and was quickly pushed to an initial public offering. Before 2000, I was frequently asked whether Newfangled was looking for investors or capitalization. At that point, I never understood what my company could possibly produce that would be so valuable that it could pay off such investors. I remember reading Internet Week and Fast Company and wondering how in the world small companies just like mine were getting so much money. As it turns out, most if not all of those companies are now long gone, and happily, we're still plugging away. One of the things that typified those internet start-ups was the abundance of buzz words. Bo Peabody of Village Ventures recounts in his recent book Lucky or Smart that his original business plan for Tripod was favored because "it mentioned the Internet several hundred times." Business plans were filled with acronyms and technology language. Investors were blinded with buzz and stocks soared like rockets, and crashed just as quickly (though Bo was smart enough about his luck that he cashed out before it all came crashing down). There is a time and a place for investment, even risky high gain venture capital, but it's not for the small service business. While the tech stocks climb and crash, good ole' fashioned hard work is always profitable. I'll leave the rocketeering to others; give me an honest dollar for a good day's work...it's much more dependable.   next >