Eight months after the bubble burst - at a time when the scope of the failure had become clear to most all - USA TODAY published an analysis headlined: What detonated dot-bombs? It delved into a handful of "mistaken assumptions," which, in retrospect, seem difficult to imagine as conventional wisdom:
It's okay to sell products for less than what they cost you, because that will bring you lots of customers.
Internet-based companies are immune to economic cycles.
Internet companies can't spend too much on advertising.
Internet companies that carry no inventory are infinitely profitable.