The Dot-Com Reset
The Great Dot-Com Reset The Dot-com bubble was a speculative expansion in the stock market centred on internet and technology companies in the late 1990s (roughly 1995–2000), which peaked around March 2000. Several factors combined to produce it: (1) The rapid rise of the World Wide Web and the internet economy created a spectrum of new companies with “.com” identities, drawing investor excitement. (2) A large inflow of venture capital, inexpensive financing (low interest-rates) and optimistic growth expectations meant many of these companies went public despite little or no profitability. (3) Traditional valuation measures (earnings, cash flows) were often set aside in favour of narratives of unlimited scaling, “get big fast”, and claims of transformational business models. (4) Media hype and investor fear of missing out (FOMO) amplified the effect: rising prices attracted more buyers, further driving valuations. (5) When reality set in (capital drying up, companies failing...
