Chapter 1. Why Things Are Not That Simple
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.
—H.L. Mencken, journalist, writer (1880–1956)
On paper, I was once a millionaire. Informal investors valued my Internet start-up at 10 million Euros, and I owned 70 percent of the financial fiction they created around me. I was even awarded the title of Entrepreneur of the Year,1 because I was so good at conveying my vision. And my colorful diagrams of expected revenues and profits looked fabulous, on paper.
1 Dutch press release of Millidian, dated December 15, 1999, is available via http://www.mgt30.com/millidian/.
But the money that the investors and I put in did not result in more profits. The extra content we created ...
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