Sure, Cisco benefited a lot during the boom - as did ISPs who laid down internet infrastructure. Those were the shovel makers. Eventually, the people who bought the shovels significantly outclassed the shovel makers. Google and Amazon are both 10x larger than Cisco in 2024. Meta is 10x. Microsoft is 15x. Hell, Uber was bigger than Cisco for most of the last decade.

These shovel maker comments get tossed around a lot in any AI "bubble" talk. Yet, the shovel makers did not even come close to being the most profitable from the dotcom boom.