This Season On Valley of the Boom | National Geographic

Let's try one with a little bigger smile. [rushing sound] [dial tone] [gagging] [dramatic sounds] [gun clicks] [horn honking]

Oh my god. Shh. You see all that? It didn't happen. [electronic music playing] Microsoft didn't literally kill anyone. They were coming hard after Netscape. And in a fashion element, the gangsters say, that was pretty gangsta. [inaudible] shady. It's sleazy.

Sleazy? Last time I checked, was antitrust level illegal? I was ready for a fight. We can't force the DOJ to prosecute, but we can give them all the ammunition they'll need. Back then, Hollywood was interested in internet streaming.

Michael Fenne. Also known as David Kim Stanley. What a pleasure. Pleasure is all mine. He started showing off the same technology to a whole new crop of investors. Wow.

MICHAEL FENNE (ON LOUDSPEAKER): Who's ready to become rich beyond their wildest dreams? [cheering] He sparked off internet IPO mania. Do we even want his $5 million? Do we want $5 million? We believe $40 million valuation is fair.

[yodeling] We're going to drink, and we're going to dance. And you're going to have the time of your life. All right. Some of the parties were insane. [cheering] People were maybe overindulging.

[inaudible] was throwing $100,000 parties before they'd even earned a cent. The biggest red flag is throwing a party. Big, gold letters-- iBash. iBash was this massive concert in Las Vegas. To iBash. iBash!

The biggest star-studded musical event ever. And in your home, pitch perfect. Write that down, pitch perfect. It was not possible to use the Pixelon technology to pull off something like iBash. Nobody can compete against Microsoft.

This crazy battle that's now being called a browser war. Creating this browser was the only thing that mattered to me. You're welcome. Your job is to keep running as fast as you can toward that cliff. My job is to keep moving the cliff.

MICHAEL FENNE: He's a reporter doing a story on iBash, and you're going to have a front row seat. Everyone with an internet connection is going to have a front row seat, right? [dramatic music playing]

You're the guy who's making all this fuss? You guys ready for your lives to change forever?

• 5-- - Doesn't mean it didn't work. I'd like to report the setting of a fugitive. 4-- There's a judgment coming. 3-- It's over. It's far from over. 2-- [dramatic music playing] 1.

MICHAEL FENNE: We all going burn in hell for what you're trying to do to me. [dramatic music playing] [computer sounds]