Build sales quickly ; see the profit later: AOL, Amazon.com exercised patience, and its paying off

NEW YORK - Among the wonders of the high-tech age is adevelopmentthat affects neither its software nor hardware products, nor thecustomers who use them in their personal and business affairs.

The new wonder is what it has done to the stock market, where acompany need not have a profit so long as it has product andpotential. High-tech has kicked out profit, the third leg of thetriad.

Well, at least of a while. At least for a year or two or maybefive. Investors in some biotech firms have waited even longer,sustained by the belief that other investors will see the truth andmake them profitable.While not the first, America Online, the largest Internet serviceprovider, showed the way, going public in 1992 with a formulastressing growth over profits. It earned $122 million in the finalquarter of 1998.Amazon.com, which sells books and related products by means of theInternet, is the most prominent of the followers. Though it has yetto make a penny, its stock rose more than 900 percent last year.There are now dozens of copycats, some still mainly on the localrather than national scene, sought by venture capitalists and otherinvestors, recommended by brokers, and profiting their believers.Essentially, the new formula is to create a unique product, forcegrow it as you would a tomato plant, and capture as much of the newmarket as you can before others catch on. Build sales quickly; letprofits follow.There is some logic to the build-quickly formula, especially whenapplied to new products in new markets. Being known as No. 1provides an enduring promotional tool; you are the leader, othersmere followers.Meanwhile, the old-fashioned investor says nobody but a foolcounts his revenues before his profits. And the new-stylists counterwith the advice: Get with it; make money while the market's hot.