DATA POINTS: DOT-COM FAILURE RATES.

[CHART OMITTED]

In the past few months, cash-starved dot-coms have been going dark at a typically Internet-like pace. According to Webmergers, an M&A firm that specializes in Web properties, more than 70% of last year's shutdowns took place between October and January. But the Webmergers trend data also shows that Internet startups actually began running out of money as early as last spring, when more than three dozen companies folded in just three months.

Investors last year were especially quick to pull the plug on B2C sites, Webmergers reports: 75% of closings "addressed primarily a consumer audience." E-commerce shutdowns represented 52% of the failed sites, and "content properties" made up another 30%.

Dot Com Shutdowns, 1/4/01, Webmergers, 1121 Clayton St., San Francisco, Calif. 94117; 415/564-2500. Web: www.webmergers.com.

UNITED STATES ex-president Bill Clinton at Oracle AppsWorld: "I know a few dot-coms are failing, but don't kid yourself. The Internet is our future." (Quoted in eWeek, 2/26/01)

ORACLE chairman Larry Ellison at Oracle AppsWorld: "The computing industry is about to become very boring." (Quoted in Information Week, 2/26/01)

ORACLE senior vice president Mark Jarvis at Oracle AppsWorld: "Software is going to become a service over the Internet; it won't be a product. Our customers will let us run the systems for them. What we need our partners to do is integrate with us online rather than integrate with our software." (Quoted in InfoWorld, 2/26/01)

NOVELL corporate staffing manager Melissa Anulao on her company's reluctance to hire people who have been laid off by failed Web companies: "Dot-commers aren't always the best candidates. Some don't have the years of experience and the maturity we're looking for." (Quoted in Information Week, 2/19/01)

MICROSOFT vice president of human resources on her company's willingness to re-hire former employees: "We keep our eyes open anytime we see dot-coms fail. It's been a good source for us." (Quoted in the San Jose Mercury News, 10/19/00)

ECORA chief executive Alex Bakman on why he avoided venture capital investments in his company: "When you take VC money, one of the things you encounter is the spending syndrome. VCs are very vocal about the pace they want you to spend the money, which is why so many dot-coms were on spending sprees." (Quoted in Internetworld, 3/1/01)

LAUNCHPAD chief executive Shelley Harrison on why she's pleased to see a collapse in billings among public relations agencies that took advantage of the dot-com boom: "Everybody got fat and happy over the last couple of years, right? Everybody did. But nobody flaunted it more and nobody took more advantage of their clients than the PR agencies. I have in my mental list all the PR agencies that were rude and nasty. There were a lot of them." (Quoted in Fortune Technology Daily, 1/29/01)

DOT-COM veteran Shyamala Reddy on what she learned from working for four unsuccessful Internet startups: "A lot of people don't understand that ideas are cheap and execution is hard." (Quoted in The Wall Street Journal, 7/18/00)

TOPICA president Anna Zornosa on startups: "I'll tell you one thing I've learned: If something seems stupid, it probably is stupid." (Quoted in Business 2.0, 12/12/00)

PRUDENTIAL SECURITIES analyst James Lucier on the U.S. Postal Service's plan to make up for a decline in first-class mail by introducing an electronic bill-paying service: "Going to fractions of a cent or maybe a cent or two for electronic bill pay, as opposed to the 34-cent stamp you're allegedly losing, is really not a credible plan to replace lost revenue." (Quoted in Forbes, 2/5/01)

UNITED STATES attorney general nominee John Ashcroft on his belief in a minimal government role in technology issues: "Whatever the outcome, any effort by Congress to micromanage this dynamic sector of the economy is doomed to backfire." (Quoted in CRN, 1/15/01)