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How did Blue Mountain Cards survive the dot com

What is Blue Mountain Cards? Back in the 90's there was a huge rush of companies trying to provide online ecard services. I'm not sure exactly how they built a business model on the idea of giving away a free ecard, but they did. Business models based on advertising revenue were quite frequent back then. This is a difference with today's focus on real revenue. However, with web 2.0, you could argue that it's started all over again.

The ecard space is a funny one. This is the space that is eating the lunch from the old paper greeting card space that's been around forever and a day. In some ways it's a normal case study of technology advancement over a paper based product. But I don't think it's that simple. An ecard is not the same thing as a paper card. Paper cards come from a store and require you to mail them. Electronic cards are bought online and never touch paper. In this way, it's a real product transition. So we are actually seeing technology change the wants and desires of the buyer here. You see this also in pcs, telephones, tvs and other electronic products.

So what exactly did blue mountain cards do that was so special? First, Blue Mountain Cards had a big lead going into the game. They had a good plan. It seems like the executives at Blue Mountain Cards new they were onto something big, but that it wouldn't last. So the company was sold while things were still really really hot in the dot com sector. An amazingly well-timed move. Looking back, there are many things I wish I had done differently.

So now it's 2008 and what is a business model like Blue Mountain Cards still doing around? You could argue that the management team at Blue Mountain Cards were the luckiest people on earth to have gotten such a valuation at such a time when that was seen as appropriate. However, these were experience people who were also making a serious move in a serious industry. The greeting card business is huge. Flawed business model or not, Blue Mountain Cards made a big dent in a market worth billions. I am betting that this is why they are still around today. They built a brand and have a name worth something. The part that is not text book is how Blue Mountain Cards got out at the top of the market. We should all be so lucky in our careers.