Posted by Vince Wadhwani on Apr 05, 2006

Once upon a time, during a dot com boom, in a land far far away, there was a service called Kozmo.com. Unlike many software driven or web-driven companies, kozmo had a different vision for the Internet -- use it to gain access to a bevy of products within the hour. For the first time, one could log into a website, place an order, and witness the fruits of your efforts in the form of a courteous delivery person at your front door. All in the time it takes to watch a couple of episodes of Simpsons back to back.

I remember having a friend from the east coast come visit me out there in fabled San Francisco. She could not believe that what I was telling her about Kozmo.com could possibly be true. Groceries were one thing but would a company really send somebody all the way to your house just to deliver some peanut M&M's and a diet coke? A few clicks and an hour later and it was confirmed that, yes, somebody would indeed do just that. Of course the business model had its holes and the times did inspire lots of thinking that turned out to be too ambitious.

But today is a joyous day indeed because I have just learned that this business model has just made a comeback. The firm is called DC Snacks and it was started by a GW Alumni during his junior year of college. After some fine tuning (smart) selling just to GW students, he has expanded his delivery area to include us regular DC Joes. Luckily, my abode falls within the area of service.

Would I use such a service? Quite possibly.. I am super lazy. I am also a huge fan of independent businesses. Although I don't know where this young man is sourcing his products, I can say that I admire his ambition in expanding and his wisdom in doing it in a limited, deliberate fashion.

Best of luck!