Originally Posted by SilentKnight

Dunno about the OP's original question, but I'm thankful I didn't pump a lot of investment money into the first company I started back in the day.

Before the internet existed - I started a local BBS called Tri-City Online Classifieds. It was basically a combination of craigslist and kijiji - but in a BBS format. The idea was good...but obviously the BBS venue was extremely limited. We had all the right ingredients except the one that mattered most - a big audience.

My investment was fairly minimal at the time (BBSes were relatively cheap to set up and operate) - so I didn't lose much when it failed. And years later when kijiji and craiglist became huge and successful on the web - I shrugged and sighed a little.