Abstract
BizE (disguised) offers online content and services to small businesses. In summer 2000, BizE launched a private-label business that brought in only three large clients as of fall 2000. Expected revenues from advertisements, fee-based services, and transaction commissions were not sufficient to cover costs after the April 2000 dot-com implosion. In late fall 2000, the chief technology officer requests $5 million to upgrade the company's systems for future growth. The twenty-something founder and chairman expresses regret that BizE did not accept an offer of $10 million from a venture capitalist the previous spring, and he wonders whether funding could be obtained under the current circumstances. The CEO considers several courses of action: Charge a membership fee for the public small business portal (i.e., convert free customers to paying customers), lay off some employees, and/or abandon the new private-label strategy. A glossary at the end of the case defines various business and technical terms. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]