Blue mountain cards is the dot com that made it

Have you heard of Blue Mountain Cards? It all started back when ecards became big in the 1990s. Im not sure exactly how they built a business model on the idea of giving away a free ecard, but they did. What you must remember is that advertising revenue models were seen as very acceptable back then. This is a difference with todays focus on real revenue. However, with web 2.0, you could argue that its started all over again.
Ecards are a difficult business space for me to understand. This is the space that is eating the lunch from the old paper greeting card space thats been around forever and a day. In some ways its a normal case study of technology advancement over a paper based product. But you should look deeper. An ecard is not the same thing as a paper card. You buy a paper card at a store and physically write on it. Electronic cards are bought online and never touch paper. In this way, its a real product transition. So we are actually seeing technology change the wants and desires of the buyer here. You see this also in pcs, telephones, tvs and other electronic products.
So what exactly did blue mountain cards do that was so special? Im not entirely sure, but I think that Blue Mountain Cards had a serious lead going into the game. They planned well.. The top management at Blue Mountain Cards seemed to know that the ride would not last forever. So Blue Mountain Cards management decided to sell the company while everything was still red-hot. An amazingly well-timed move. Looking back, there are many things I wish I had done differently.
How is that in 2008 Blue Mountain Cards is still a going concern? One view is that the original builders of the business picked an once-in-a-lifetime period to exit the business and made an unprecedented amount of money.. I often wonder if management teams like that are really lucky or create luck due to their experience. This is not a small business. Regardless of their underlying financials, this business made a name for itself in a multi billion dollar business space. I am betting that this is why they are still around today. They built a brand and have a name worth something. The part that is not text book is how Blue Mountain Cards got out at the top of the market. We should all be so lucky in our careers.