Dot-Com

Virtual schaudenfraude

by Michelle Chihara

Gone are the days when RatMazeCam.com could score millions of dollars in venture capital with nothing but a business plan and a piece of cheese. It's shake-out time for Internet companies. And one Web site, FuckedCompany.com, is hoping to profit from the bitterness and disappointment of each and every, well, fucked company out there.

FuckedCompany (which mimics the logo of corporate cheerleader Fast Company magazine) works like a "celebrity death pool." Participants sign up and pick five companies that they deem most likely to tank. When one of your picks lays off employees, loses senior management, or otherwise shows signs of weakness, you get points. Whoever has the most points wins. And gloats.

The Phoenix spoke with 24-year-old Web site developer and FuckedCompany.com founder Philip Kaplan from his offices in New York City.

Kaplan: Hold on, let me turn down the Notorious B.I.G.

Q: What prompted you to do this site?

A: The industry was just getting overloaded and ridiculous -- just the largesse of the dot-com community, with these huge parties, and companies spending all this money when they had no particular revenue model.

Q: How do you keep on top of who's failing?

A: I get about 300 to 400 tips every day. Of those, I end up publishing about 20. I do as much research as I want to. I verify about 50 percent to 75 percent of the tips. If it says "rumor," that means I wasn't able to verify it.

Q: And so far, no complaints?

A: No complaints.

Q: Isn't it dangerous to be publishing this kind of negative stuff about companies?

A: Absolutely.

Q: You've just hired a professional PR company. Are you going to make money off the site?

A: Oh, yeah. I'm gonna be a billionaire, I'm going to rake it in.

Q: How?

A: You'll have to wait and see.

Q: Did you predict the failure of Toysmart [a recent high-profile failure]?

A: Absolutely. It was the third-most-popular pick.

Q: What happens when the shake-out ends?

A: There's always going to be failing companies. People are interested in failure the same way they're interested in success. To use an overused buzzword, it has "legs." It's still growing.

Q: Are you worried that you're going to become like the companies you mock on your site?

A: Oh, I'm looking forward to it. I want to be the most fucked company.