Riot On Documentary (2002)
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN recommends it as an entertaining dot-com-era story and a cautionary tale about VC funding and fake-it-till-you-make-it growth.
What it is
A documentary about Riot Entertainment, a Finnish dot-com-era startup that raised millions in funding and then collapsed. It follows the hype-driven rise and implosion of the company.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2016 to 2022.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec virgulino · 2021-07 · on “The History of the Dot Com Era”
I highly recommend the documentary "Riot On!". Great documentary, great cinema, and great entertainment. "E-Dreams" and "Startup.com" are also very good. All of them on youtube: [this video] [LINK] [LINK]
Recommends mvdwoord · 2022-05 · on “Bolt announces layoffs”
Interesting and funny documentary from the dot com boom era in a finish company, riot entertainment. Great watch on the insanity of VC funding and growth. [this video]
Cites andyjdavis · 2016-05 · on “Steve Blank: 'VCs Won't Admit They're in a Ponzi Scheme'”
I haven't seen e-dreams but the documentary sounds somewhat similar to Riot On which is actually from 2004 I believe. It is about a company called Riot Entertainment that took in millions in funding from a bunch of high profile sources, made a ton of fairly dubious decisions before imploding. [this video]
Cites aaron695 · 2020-08 · on “U.S. Marshals Service online auction – Fyre festival fraud scheme”
They were pretty close to a billion $ From the docos the interesting thing is they seemed like they almost would have became Cameo. Just like Riot-E also almost became 100 millionaires through their outrageous fake it till you make it [this video] (NSFW)