Net Profit: Who's Making Money on the Internet and How They're Doing (Jossey-Bass Business & Management)

Cohan identifies nine segments of the industry -- infrastructure, consulting, venture capital, security, portals, e-commerce, Web content, Internet service providers and commerce tools. He judges the leading companies in the nine fields on their management, their breadth of customer service and, most critical, their ability to deliver a product that is so scarce and important that it carries a high price. Most Internet companies fail to meet all of Cohan's strict standards. Portal leader Yahoo!, for example, lacks economic clout over advertisers because of tough rivals in the traditional media. Cohan gives high grades to technology consultants like Gartner Group, venture capital firms and network builder Cisco. He loves Cisco because it controls 80 percent of the router market, keeps customers by providing other network components and shows a knack for acquiring smaller companies. Easy to understand, Net Profit features some key strategies for competing on the Internet. Cohan also helps companies evaluate whether it makes sense to even offer services on the Web. --Dan Ring, Amazon.com

This book will benefit investors seeking to gain an understanding of the New Economy dynamics. In addition, investors will get a straightforward set of criteria with which to assess potential investee companies' chances of success in the New Economy; (x) does the company have economic leverage in its sector? (y) does it have a qualified and adaptable management team? and (z) does the company offer a one-stop-shop solution for its customers?

The book can also serve as a textbook for MBA students wishing to analyse the New Economy. The first chapters set out the approach and key value drivers common to all New Economy companies (and for that matter, also their Old Economy equivalents). The following chapters then proceed with an application of these criteria to the individual sub-industries within the New Economy. Finally, the author repeats for good measure the main conclusions from his analysis both in the individual chapters and a separate "executive summary".

However, readers seeking to gain an understanding of the business models used in the New Economy will need to seek elsewhere. Also, one of the book's irritating weaknesses is the repeated use of the same examples throughout rather than broadening the sample of transactions and cases involved. Last, but certainly not least, the book also fails to point readers towards useful information sources which they could consult when applying the suggested analytical criteria.