Dots Dashed

Think of the last two and a half years as Kozmo's prepubescence. We were kids with rich parents. We had the keys to the Ferrari and tons of cash to spend without consequence. With the e-commerce explosion, we got giddy. Like every other dotcom that was carried away by the hype, we got ahead of ourselves. Our spending was out of control. Our growth? Frantic. We went from one city in June 1999 to a total of 11 markets a year later.

As a result, we spread our resources too thin; we couldn't grow every market. When you're focused on fast growth and fast money, you definitely lose sight of your company's soul.

The April crash was a wake-up call that forced us to focus on our existing business and return to our roots: Why did we build this company in the first place? Whatever happened to an old-fashioned ROI? A company can't justify any type of valuation without profits. Revisiting the fundamentals renewed our commitment to generate profitable business in all of our markets.

We may have lived five years within the last two and a half, but we're better off for it. We've walked away with a particularly valuable lesson: Ignore the market, no matter what. Concerning ourselves with short-term fluctuations is a sure way to lose focus.

Today, we're riding a more moderate course to meet our bottom line. Whether we go public in six months or in five years doesn't matter to me. To build a truly great company, we can't play the game day-to-day. We've got to make steady progress, one year at a time.

Yong Kang (ykang@kozmo.com) cofounded Kozmo.com in 1997 with his college roommate, Joseph Park. Before stepping down as president to become the company's vice chairman, Kang forged partnerships with Amazon.com, Columbia TriStar, and Starbucks. Previously, he was an assistant vice president at Société Générale.