A friend called me out of the blue and told me I had to come down to this new company he worked for. He really liked it. I e-mailed my resume; I wasn’t thrilled with my customer service position with a long distance phone company. What did I have to loose?

I Worked For A Dot.Com Company

by Cornelia Amiri


A friend called me out of the blue and told me I had to come down to this new company he worked for. He really liked it. I e-mailed my resume; I wasn’t thrilled with my customer service position with a long distance phone company. What did I have to loose? The air in the office building vibrated with energy as I walked in for my interview. It was well past 5pm but the marketing department was filled with exuberant employees working late. My manager-to-be told me about the company, a cashless financial institution. Coins and dollar bills were no longer relevant to the exchange of money. It was brand new. Sparkling. A chance of a lifetime. I took the offer. 

All the employees were energetic, forever young.. The men in charge were dreamers, idealist, and freedom fighters, not your typical Corporate America stock. We battled the big boys, brick and motor banks. Fought the injustice of ATM fees. We made personal phone calls to customers to thank them for using our services. We were different. We made a difference. We were shooting for the moon. It was lovely. 

Employees were encouraged to contribute their input. All ideas were welcome. Everyone, regardless of their position, were reminded daily that they were as important as the founder himself. We all contributed to the success of the company. Time flew. Projects were plentiful. The world was good.

We had marketing meetings, customer acquisition team meetings and. company lunches. The entire marketing department attended an off site the first of January to plan for the coming year. Two weeks later darkness descended. 

It began with the lay offs of the temporaries and a few permanent employees, followed by a team meeting, a department meeting, an employee meeting, and a 4:00 PM margarita party. Keep in mind we were a Houston based company. 

The department I worked in was disbanded. My co-workers and I were fostered out between two clerical departments. Our manager was sent to another area. We were split and scared. But still we believed. After all, the situation was only temporary. 

The government had changed the requirements of the company. This affected our funding. It takes a start up company at least three years to get on their feet. Until then they raise funds each year. The government set quarterly funding deadlines. We had to meet each one. We missed the first. 

Closure of the company was inevitable. We would either be sold or shut down by the government. An offer was made, but it went back and forth just days before the Government would have stepped in. Finally, the deal was signed. Our accounts were purchased. The grand dot.com bank was no more. We hugged and cried and parted as a team. We reached for the moon and the stars, we came up short. But, a good time was had by all. I got to work for a dot.com company.

Lift your glass of cyber champagne as I toast my dot.com colleagues. It was a nice ride. Why, did it have to stop?