MovieChat Forums > Startup.com (2001) Discussion > I met Kaliel on a flight from Puerto Ric...

I met Kaliel on a flight from Puerto Rico...

posted 20 years ago by Mannequin
18 replies | jump to latest

In 2002 I was coming home from a short stay in Puerto Rico after visiting a friend. I had seen this documentary a few months prior to the trip. On the flight home I noticed a man sitting in front of me wearing a cap. On the side of it were the words "GovWorks." It sounded familiar to me but I brushed it off and ignored it.

When the 4 hour flight was over and the plane taxied to a stop, everyone stood up. It was then that I glanced over at the man in front of me and recognized, immediately, who it was. Then I discovered why the name "GovWorks" had been so familiar. I was friendly, I said "Hey! You're Kaliel from Startup.com!"

"Yeah..." he groaned, not even acknowledging a fan. I didn't say anything after that because I assumed he wasn't in the mood to chat.

I just thought it was odd, though. He's not a huge celebrity. I doubt he has fans approaching him all the time, and yet he didn't even have the courtesy to respond in a friendly manner. What a jerk.

[–] llevas 20 years ago

aw, that's too bad

[–] sakuraba 16 years ago

kalil is a Yonk, YOU WERE LUCKY YOU DID NOT INTERACT WITH HIM, HE WOULD HAVE RUN A SHORT con on you so he could buy some malt liquor or nighttrain.

[–] petersen1973 20 years ago

That's kind of a bummer. On one hand, you have to figure that being famous for a failed business is a somewhat dubious achievement and not something you'd necessarily be proud of, hence the lackluster response. Yet, if he didn't want people to recognize him, why was he still hearing the govWorks hat? Sounds like a tool.

I haven't seen this movie, because every time I'm at the video store I forget about it. I need to keep a running list of "movies I gotta watch"...

[–] llevas 20 years ago

i do that, i make a list and what section they'll be in the video store, no lie

[–] emailterry 20 years ago

It was on twice last night I record it on the second run, If entrepreneur info interests you, this is great and even if you have no interest in busines I think you'd still like it. Anyway If you get the "Trio" Channel it will probably be on again this month, the trio channel shows floops, movies,
TV shows, anything or anybody that flopped. I just saw a show called
"My Mother the Car" starring Jerry Van Dyke I thought it was o.k. but TV Guide rated it the second worst show in TV history, the first was "Startup.com".
If anybody wants a copy, email me and we can see if we can work something out.

[–] Cardiff-Giant 19 years ago

Wait, TVGuide rated Startup.com as the worst show in TV history? That doesn't make sense. It wasn't a TV show.

Also it couldn't have been worse than My Mother the Car which I've heard of.

[–] Xarathos 19 years ago

Even back then I couldn't understand how these websites were supposed to be making money. Some websites didn't even seem to sell anything, how could they make any money?

[–] vincent-27 19 years ago

I lived through it (although in Canada, not silicon valley) and the whole period was pure insanity. Another word can sum it all up too: greed. It was greed pure and simple, venture capalitists pouring money into any dot com, paying analysts to hype it to the moon, launching an IPO and then dumping their stock. People made millions very quickly. You have to remember that the internet was new, people didn't really understand it very well, it seemed like magic. If you think about how much money the word Nike is worth, just that word, then you can understand why a name like pets.com generated so much excitement. The internet also allowed people who normally would never invest in the stock market to buy shares online. People kind of lost their minds, they forgot that in the end you still need some kind of product or service to sell, the internet did not change this, it is just another tool (albeit a very powerful one), like a telephone or a fax machine.

--
"Surrender Dorothy!"

[–] britwrit 18 years ago

Actually, they had a pretty good idea. A lot of small towns don't want (or didn't want) to go through the hassle of getting on the internet themselves but they'd pay contractors to do it for them.

[–] vincent-27 15 years ago

Actually, they had a pretty good idea. A lot of small towns don't want (or didn't want) to go through the hassle of getting on the internet themselves but they'd pay contractors to do it for them.

Tom mentioned on this website that their biggest mistake was moving from a government contract consulting company to a consumer based company, I agree that the former is much more lucrative and made more sense vis a vis their business model.

--
"Surrender Dorothy!"

[–] gamespy-1 18 years ago

Did you watch the film??? One of his dreams crashed and burned in front of a documentary crew and you wonder why he wasn't in the mood to be recognized about it?

It's like having your son "Bob" killed in a car crash and someone who read the death announcement in the paper saying "Hey, aren't you Bob's Dad? I'm a fan!!"

He probably regrets having the camera crew following him and every time someone recognizes him, he probably regrets it even more..

[–] darkathsis 16 years ago

yeah, but why wear the hat? the company had already failed, if you want to be left alone, don't *beep* wear the hat...

[–] Mannequin 16 years ago

Then why wear a hat saying "My son Bob died", which encourages conversation from strangers?

I just think he's an ass.

[–] adehbone 18 years ago

you said startup.com like hes an actor...the guy was brillant businessman and CEO....

hes also gone on to start other businesses and books on the subject...

you wonder why hes upset about you thinking his an actor of some film?

[–] krisweddin 17 years ago

Interesting use of the word 'brillant'. He seems to have moved from failed startups to some late-night infomercial-sounding "The Entrepreneur's Success Kit".

This is classic--from his website:

Kaleil was the co-founder and CEO of govWorks, Inc., a leading software services firm serving the state and local government marketplace.

When was that company leading anything?

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] suse33 16 years ago

According to his partner in Govworks.com Tom Herman's website, Kaliel is working to make their new company a success. While it doesn't excuse being rude to a fan, he might have been burnt from work and/or the flight.

As to those who think he now resents having a "film crew" follow him around to document his crash, two thoughts:

1. The primary director was his good friend from Harvard, and his roommate at the time of filming. She stated on the commentary that the idea of making the film derived from a conversation they had regarding the coincidental timing of his leaving Goldman~Sachs to go out on his own and her need to start another film.

2. In line with #1 and per the commentary, since he had NO idea at that time that Govworks would fail; he and Tom gave the directors access to everything in hopes of making a great movie that would entertain, but educate too. It certainly achieved the latter, if only in the negative. But the director said that at the premiere he was able to separate his personal discouragement from his judgement as an audience member ~ and gave her and her directing partner advice on how to make it more interesting, even if having to include more uncomfortable moments.

If he was rude I'll believe it's either because he was (a) tired, or is (b) a jerk, but I won't give him sympathy for assuming a film about his professional high-dive could only get him 10's from the judges 'cross the board.

[–] jum1801 15 years ago

Heh. He was wearing a hat with "GovWorks" on it, and pulled the oh-so-tired-of-the-demands-of-celebrity act when someone rose to the bait. What a conceited ass he is. I'm sure he has parlayed his mini-celebrity to one three-card-monte scam after another.