| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : DECEMBER 13, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| BUSINESS WEEK E.BIZ -- UPSTARTS
U.S. to European Entrepreneurs: Take a Lesson U.S.-based Internet startup VacationSpot.com fared better than its European competition, Rent-a-Holiday. Here's why: FORGET ABOUT EARLY PROFITS American investors concentrated on building market share. European investors wanted to see an early payback. Now, U.S. startups have better market positions. DON'T NEGLECT DISTRIBUTION Americans spent heavily on deals with portals such as Yahoo! to generate traffic. The Europeans focused instead on building up their site with listings of rental homes. RECRUIT TOPFLIGHT STAFF The Americans attracted experienced managers by offering stock options. The Europeans had trouble recruiting staff because their stock options were taxed. GO UP THE VALUE CHAIN While the Europeans depended on advertising and listing revenues, the Americans poured money into building a full-service site that could process online orders. Now they are ahead of the game in e-commerce. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ |
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RELATED ITEMS Europe's Home Field Disadvantage TABLE: U.S. to European Entrepreneurs: Take a Lesson INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
