Remember I said this is in reference to a website/web app that is a startup. Not as promotional material...or functioning as a loss leader. Websites for movie

Remember I said this is in reference to a website/web app that is a startup. Not as promotional material...or functioning as a loss leader. Websites for movie trailers = promo material...not a startup. Web sites for cars = promo material...not a startup. An e-commerce site has to go primarily off of revenues and profits. Once they focus on revenues and profits, they can then invest in advertising (both above-the-line and below-the-line). Amazon ran in the red for many years, because it invested heavily in the infrastructure. It raised equity financing, reinvested all revenues and profits and when it went public it raised huge debt. Over the subsequent years, it paid down that debt slowly but surely with the profits thrown off of operations. Until the point that it has been profitable for the last few years. However, this point illustrates what I was talking about...they focussed on revenues first and then went to profitability shortly after.