No VC after the dot-com bust? No problem!

January 14, 2002 4:10 PM

No VC after the dot-com bust? No problem! Just sign up for eight no-annual-fee credit cards with interest rates as low as 1.7 percent (for a few months, anyway), and shazam: You've got $35,000; you're a start-up! Question: Has this guy read a newspaper in, say, the last 18 months?
posted by nathanstack (15 comments total)

Suck.com was founded on Carl's maxed-out gold card, but that's a little different from eight maxed-out gold cards.
posted by waxpancake at 4:33 PM on January 14, 2002

I'm 35 years old, have a good-paying job that I've had for three years, and I can't get $35K worth of credit cards. WTF?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:44 PM on January 14, 2002

He had a panic attack when he tried to sleep one night? I only read a story about him and it might give me a panic attack tonight. I feel sorry for this kid -- he's walking a very, very tough road. I really don't believe the world needs one more cheap digital camera -- does it?
posted by argybarg at 4:49 PM on January 14, 2002

Yes, you probably can get $35K worth of credit cards. In fact, you can probably get $70K worth. I had $50K worth, and I was only making $30-40K a year at the time.
posted by kindall at 4:52 PM on January 14, 2002

Just in time for the "reform" of the bankruptcy law.
posted by Slagman at 4:54 PM on January 14, 2002

argybarg, THAT was funny. I'm still laughing.

This man is so....wrong...on so many counts, it's crazy.
He has no business plan, no money, no marketing plan, no distribution plan, no financial backing, no CHANCE, but hey! he's got FREE MONEY! What an idiot. Hey, he can always go bankrupt...no problem there.

I'm embarrased that he's a CU Boulder alumni. We're not all that stupid...honest.

Hey, but it's got pictures of him looking all business-like so he must know what he's doing.
posted by aacheson at 5:00 PM on January 14, 2002

I know somebody who did something similar. Bank wouldn't loan him money for a house, so he got credit cards, maxed them out for cash, paid faithfully for 6 months. Then went back to the bank. After seeing that he could pay the loan for 6 months, they gave him a regular mortgage. Maybe they just liked his chutzpah.
posted by theora55 at 5:39 PM on January 14, 2002

some website he's got there too. I think he'll go far... ;(
posted by sean17 at 5:55 PM on January 14, 2002

The financing is frightening, yes. But, $89 for a digital camera? I can think of people who would do that. It's cheaper than your standard dig cam so people might give it a try without worrying that it won't live up to their expectations. I think his biggest hurdle will be trust -- convincing people to buy online a product which may sound too good to be true. They might be worrying that they'd only get a *photo* of a digital camera.
posted by amanda at 6:25 PM on January 14, 2002

"This is what my life is all about right now," said McGowan who broke up with his girlfriend last month.

That's my favorite part of the article by far.
posted by ry at 7:12 PM on January 14, 2002

Its distinguishing feature is its television connectivity.

dont a lot of digital cameras do that nowadays? maybe i've only been looking at the high-end ones lately...
posted by lotsofno at 7:30 PM on January 14, 2002

and doesn't have much living space.

Judging by the pic, a hell of a lot more than I got. Has the writer ever actually BEEN in NYC?
posted by HTuttle at 10:25 PM on January 14, 2002

To be fair, the lad does has a domain name:
http://www.mcgowantech.com.

I was amused to note, however, that two of the links at the absolute bottom of the page linked to above are trying desperately to get me into Mr. McGowan's C: drive.

That picture with the globe, there's something very 'Dr. Evil' about it.
posted by rocketpup at 2:36 AM on January 15, 2002

Even if the guy can't sell the things through normal channels, there seems to be an unlimited buying capacity for cheap anythings on E-bay.

I like the fact that the guy's gallery is a collection of shots from his trip to Mexico. They don't look that bad, for pictures taken by a non-pro.
posted by websavvy at 7:33 AM on January 15, 2002

HTuttle: I think he's living in Seattle... Not NYC.
posted by bshort at 8:09 AM on January 15, 2002