The Daily Feather — The Superbowl of Bubblevision

Not all canines are chihuahuas. This was the takeaway November 9, 2000, when Pets.com became the poster child of the dot.com mania, spectacularly filing for bankruptcy in one of the quickest journeys from IPO to insolvency in Corporate American history. “In the end,” said CEO Julie Wainwright, we thought it was the best thing for our shareholders, who are our primary concern, since we're a public company. Obviously, that's sad.” Tragic it was indeed as today, the firm founded on its business model, is the success we know as Chewy.com, which figured out how to economically ship bags of food heavy enough to feed breeds ranging from chihuahuas to mastiffs. Pets.com went public that February, raising $82.5 million at $11 a share, and flamed out at $0.22 a share nine months later. Wiped out was Jeff Bezos’ 54% stake in the startup. We can only venture a guess that the Amazon founder was dazzled by Pets.com’s iconic sock balloon in the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade (which outlived the brand) to say nothing of its Super Bowl advertisements. The only thing that nearly outlived the firm’s flameout was sell-side support for the stock. It was a fee thing, you know.

The dot.com era was also CNBC’s Super Bowl. Reporters furiously paced the floor of the New York Stock Exchange every time another profitless company was set to splash out onto the Nasdaq Exchange. In the case of Pets.com, it topped out at $14 a share before embarking upon its quick descent.

That contrasts with today’s hottest game in town.