Customer Reviews

Net Profit: How to Invest and Compete in the Real World of Internet Business

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This is the most lucid, sensible analysis I've read thus far of the likely implications of engaging in e-commerce from different strategic perspectives and business models. Cohan provides a valuable framework and applies it to scores of real cases. I find myself returning to his book time and again to apply his methodology. His only off-base advice: don't invest in companies led by folks over 35. I'll forgive him that one. The rest of the book is a real gem. It should age well.

Cohan has written a solid book in which he clearly articulates the building blocks for the Internet Economy. Part industry analysis, part case study, and part inside story, the author has managed to get his hands aournd an incredibly broad, fast moving segment of the new economy. Having read way too many business books in my time, I found Cohan's straight forward, common-sensical approach to the subject matter refreshing. He combines well known cases like Yahoo with lesser known ones such as Mecklermedia that often prove to be even more informative. His clear writing style lacks the buzz-words and sales pitches which plague so many other books. The purpose of this book is to inform and it does so admirably. I recommend the book to anyone seeking a roadmap to the pitfalls and opportunities, the innovators and key players of the Internet. I have used the book with a number of clients in order to help them begin to understand the development and opportunities of this new marketspace.

Whatever combination of education and experience Peter Cohan has accumulated that would permit him to so clearly and intelligently dissect the wild and wooly world of Internet business, they certainly have played in concert to produce "Net Profit."

The field is complex and misunderstood enough as it is. And Cohan has done the impossible---stepping into the shoes of the investor, the E-Commerce businessman, and the non-E-Commerce businessman to make sense of this recondite world from the perspective of each, and producing a valuable resource for each.

A must read for those that think that "dot.com" is the key to the kingdom.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is involved in the internet, either from a purely investment point of view or who has a business that is internet related.

Mr. Cohan has done an exceptional job of coalescing data and case studies into usable information for anybody who fits into these categories, then offers his own conceptual ideas of what to do when it comes to an internet-based company.

Unlike most business oriented books that provide one or two key messages and then spin them a hundred different ways throughout the rest of the book, Mr. Cohan continues to provide fresh ideas and thinking chapter after chapter. It frankly is so well written, it is hard to put down. Along those lines, it reads like a novel.

I have already recommended this book internally to executive management at the company I work for, because I am thoroughly impressed with it's relevant content. I believe our company can learn from what he has to say and I believe you can too.

Order this book today---you will not be disappointed!!

Initially I bought your book as an investor. Ultimately I thought it was more useful for me as a business tool. I own a marketing consulting company. I have been in my business for 20 years. When I started my relationship with my clients was to provide advertising. Now my clients employ me for a simple reason . . . to make their companies more profitable. Hence my attraction to your book.

From a business perspective I have had increasing involvement with both internet companies and companies trying to figure out how to use the internet. In this area your book provides a road map for businesses to both understand and use the internet profitably. Your guidelines and explanation of how to use the internet profitably provides what I think is classic conservative business wisdom. Your example of US Calvary was a great illlustration of how a company can successfully transition into a profitable internet presence.

I must tell you that from a business persective I gained a valuable insight from your book. Internet companies, just like brick and mortar companies, succeed because they are consumer centric. Your example of Cisco, Sterling Commerce, and Macromedia were great illustrations of that point.

What I liked most about your book from a business perspective is a simple belief that you continued to emphasize . . . no matter how sophisticated your technology is or how consumer centric you think you are the ultimate measurement of success for any business is the same . . . PROFIT.

I think your book provides an outstanding road map for businesses tryng to demystify the net. I think your book is an even better tool for businesses who want to move forward using the net in a conservative and strategic fashion with the ultimate goal of being a more profitable company. As a sidebar I thought your section on myths and realities of the internet was outstanding.

As an individual investor I buy earnings. Period. In the case of the internet I am like everybody else. I am trying to identify those companies who will generate long term and consistent earnings. Your book provided the most comprehnesive evaluation methodology I have discovered so far on internet companies. Our values are the same and your breakdown of the internet into definable segments was very useful. I particularly appreciated your evaluation of each internet segment from the standpoint of your "Profit Retriever". I have a better understanding of where future profitability might be found in terms of internet companies.

Bottom Line . . . Great business book. Very good individual investor book.

This book is good for Newbie to the internet but certainly don't worth a look for someone looking for insight.

The framework is nothing new but more or less a simplified business plan.

In Chapter 13, Advice for Internet Management and Investors sounds like a common sense and existing strategy using by most of the dotcom. Common Sense: Strategy 1 of those advices is moving the company into a more profitability region in short. (It dividies the market into 3 levels of profitability. so called Lossware, Brandware and Powerware. Well, no matter if it is New or Old economy, there is always different degrees of profitability.)

Existing strategies: Selling out of a porfolio builder, deep pockets and restructuring. We are seeing consolidation in the market a long long time ago and a lot of big or small players already know it is the way.

This book is more like a news reporting and a lot of newly invented words cannot make this book a standard of new economy rules but disappoint me only.

The Internet is here to stay. Peter Cohan has written a book that investors,entreprenours and students of management will appreciate.In a very well organized book, Net Profit,he explains the numerous facets of the Internet business in detail:why some companies are successful and others not,the problems they faced,and their reactions. Obviously researched in detail, including many conversations with the key actors, he has organized the concepts necessary for success which will be much appreciated by the reader.

At the peak of the dot-com bubble, buying Internet stocks was momentum investing at its most pure - get in when a new stock or sector is on its upswing, and get out while the gettin's good. But Peter S. Cohan has created new criteria for Internet investors to apply in the traditional method of fundamental analysis. Instead of looking to old-line gurus like Graham or Buffet for advice, Cohan draws on the business strategies of John D. Rockefeller to come up with fresh e-commerce attributes like economic leverage, closed-loop solutions and adaptive management for investors to measure. We [...] recommend this book to executives, employees and students with equal vigor, although consider yourself forewarned that Cohan's extended barking-dog analogy will grate on your nerves. Nevertheless, anyone who invests in Internet companies or even traffics in Internet commerce for business or pleasure will gain insights from this book, regardless of whether Cohan's investment criteria prove to have staying power.

Finally I have a model in my head to process all the information that's out there on the Internet and the digital economy. With all the hype out there, it's easy to become cynical and dismiss the Internet as simply another transition like moving from the typewriter to the dedicated word processor to the PC. Incredible market caps get all the attention today, but Peter points out that there are underlying fundamentals to look at, and they truly are fundamentals such as adaptive management, a complete solution to the customer, and leverage over the economy. In addition, Peter segments the Internet economy, showing that there are different parts to it, each of which is in a different phase of growth, some being more attractive than others. As an investor, employee, manager, or job-seeker, this book will help you put some structure into a very chaotic space. Highly recommended.

Peter Cohan's book, Net Profit, is a terrific help to those who are looking for investment opportunities in the internet space. The book is very well structured and organized. The author has divided the internet business world into logical sectors which makes this confusing space easier to understand. Most importantly, he has developed a solid framework for thinking about each sector as well as the specific internet companies and their profit potential. I highly recommend this book to others who are making investment and business decisions in this new era of the internet. Great book!!