Do you like movies? Do you like to eat ice cream? Are you too lazy to walk three blocks to the nearest Blockbuster or convenience store? Then fall to your knees and thank your lucky stars for the entrepreneurs of Kozmo.com. Named after the irrepressible Cosmo Kramer of TV's Seinfeld and the trendy drink, the Cosmopolitan, this Silicon Alley startup promises "near-instant gratification" for cinephiles, with home delivery of movie videos, DVDs, Playstation games, and even snacks - all within an hour of your order.

Hello Silicon Alley!

The company was founded by friends Joseph Park and Yong Kang, who spent three years working in investment banking (Park at Goldman Sachs, Kang at Toronto Dominion and Societe Generale). After enviously gazing across the table at entrepreneurs starting their own businesses, Park and Kang decided to go into business for themselves, founding Kozmo.com in 1997.

25,000 titles and growing

With over 25,000 movie titles and multiple copies of everything from Rashomon to Rushmore, Kozmo.com is prepared to whet the movie appetite of the denizens of major urban centers across the country. Customers can browse the company web site for available titles, reviews, and staff picks, and place their order online or by phone. Kozmo has also addded books, video games, food, and CDs to their repertoire. Delivery is free; pickup costs a dollar (or customers may return their videos to centers sprinkled throughout the city). Kozmo.com currently has expanded service throughout New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Portland.

Would you like a latte with that?

Throughout late 1999 and early 2000, Kozmo added hundreds of items to its menu, ranging from pain relievers to Krispy Kreme doughnuts. In February 2000, Kozmo inked a 5-year deal in which the company pays Starbucks $150 million for the privilege of puting drop boxes in Starbucks stores in the cities where Kozmo operates. The deal allows Kozmo to start selling Starbucks coffee by the pound, but more importantly, gives it the power of the Starbucks brand name to aid its expansion into new markets as well as raise its visibility in cities it already services. Around the same time, dotcom powerhouse Amazon.com invested $60 million in Kozmo as part of a three-year deal in which Amazon uses Kozmo as its one-hour delivery service of choice (while reserving the right to use other delivery services as it deems necessary) for certain CD, book and game orders.

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