Fear and loathing in the dotcom industry

As the new economy comes crashing down around our ears, with every man and his dog fearing the next wave of job cuts or dotcom bombs, one veteran of the industry has maintained a little humour.

"I lost my job in the new economy and all I got was screwed," is the gentle reminder printed on the mouse pad of Mike Daisey, one of the original Amazon.com staff.

This month his non-disclosure agreement on talking about life at Amazon expired and, as a result, Daisey has launched his own one-man comedy stage play based on life in the dotcom industry.

He describes the real story of Amazon as learning how to "slavishly love idealistic mouthbreathers, 60-hour weeks, and the cult of personality that is [chief executive] Jeff Bezos".

As he did not come out of the experience rich beyond his wildest dreams, he likens the experience to surviving a bender in Las Vegas. "What were we thinking? Where did the money go?" he asks.

Daisey said his positions in customer service and business development were "like working as a slave to the Pharisees in a light-less, dank room, while business development was like attending a preppy summer camp in a teen sex comedy. So I got to see how both the poor and the rich toil in the new economy - the same as in the old economy."

Throughout his many conversations with Bezos, Daisey said that a "tremulous combination of hero worship and idolatry" prevented him from saying anything meaningful, although he did spill coffee on him once.

As for the gold at the end of the dotcom rainbow, Daisey has this advice: "You now know that a lot of people's dreams went south with the market. Some people have lost their houses, cars and livelihoods. I sold my stock when it was high and bought a ninja sword."

His film and show - 21 dog years: doing time @ Amazon.com - add a little light-hearted humour to a very gloomy industry, while venting spleen against former employers without going postal.

Although based in the US, the show is also webcast from his site at mikedaisey.com.