The New Economy; How It Turned Out for 12 of the 1990s' Hottest Companies; Successes, Failures Hold Encouraging Lesson on Growth
WARNING: Most of the "hot" companies touted by business writers are likely to cool off or fizzle in the next few years.</br></br>I was reminded of this sad fact last week when shares of Manugistics Group Inc., a Rockville software firm, fell by half after the company said it would report a quarterly loss. Manugistics was among a dozen companies I had identified four years ago on The Washington Post's front page as a "gazelle" -- that species of fleet-footed firm that was reshaping the American business landscape and generating most of the economy's gains in jobs and productivity.</br></br>There was Molten Metal Technology Inc., a Massachusetts firm that recycles hazardous wastes by dipping them in vats of hot metal. Now it's out of cash, in bankruptcy court and facing congressional investigation of its ties to Vice President Gore.</br></br>And Discovery Zone Inc., the franchised fun center that grew too fast -- and is now just emerging from bankruptcy court protection as a smaller, private company.</br></br>And Boston Chicken Inc., the home-cooked-meal chain that earlier this month reported a $312 million quarterly loss and the departure of its two founders. On Friday, the company's auditors warned that there was "substantial doubt" Boston Chicken could survive as a going concern.