InformationWeek.com

Welcome Guest. | Log In| Register | Membership Benefits

November 8, 1999

PresentWeb

In June 1996, when Internet commerce was still in its infancy, InformationWeek published a cover story titled "FutureWeb." The goal was to identify emerging companies with unique Web-business models--businesses with a good chance to break out of the pack and become major industry players over the next three years.

The startups selected have a combined market capitalization of about $15 billion today. But the stories weren't just about money; these companies have all carved out different, successful businesses that have shaped Web usage and Web commerce for millions of consumers and companies. Here is a follow-up look at some of those companies.

InfoSpace.com Inc. has reported two straight profitable quarters, beating analysts' estimates. The company had 35 employees when it went public a year ago; it now employs 170 and has a market cap of $2.6 billion. You can ask founder and CEO Naveen Jain if he's having fun, but don't ask him if he's satisfied. "In this business, you can never, ever say that you've made it," says the gregarious 40-year-old ex-Microsoft engineer. "You just climb the next mountain. We continue to set higher and higher goals for ourselves."

InfoSpace has achieved its initial goal of providing "content infrastructure" to the Web's most-visited sites, such as America Online and Netscape Netcenter. InfoSpace provides phone and address directories, a Yahoo-like Web directory, and aggregation of popular shopping sites. The company expects about $35 million in revenue this year, all from advertising and sponsorships.

--Clinton Wilder

The story of USWeb co-founder Joe Firmage and his company is a story of transformation. First, the company itself, which has moved from a gradual aggregation of more than 30 Web services companies into a more-than-$500 million giant--now called USWeb/CKS since a 1997 merger--that competes with systems integrators such as Andersen Consulting for huge contracts. Second, Firmage's business life; he left USWeb a year ago and has founded a related company, IntendChange, to help fund and nurture E-commerce startups.

Before Firmage left USWeb, he recruited a seasoned executive, Oracle's Robert Shaw, to take over. The company now employs more than 4,000, has a market cap of nearly $3 billion, and executes Web-integration contracts of more than $10 million for some of the nation's largest companies. "When we started, a $100,000 Web-development contract was huge," says Firmage. "I think things really started to change when 50-year-old CEOs saw their market caps eclipsed by 18-month-old Web companies."

--Clinton Wilder

Christy Jones turns 30 this week, and she's celebrating by spending the week at a Hawaiian resort known for its lack of technology in guest rooms--no TV, no fax machine, not even a phone. But Jones will, of course, be back in time for Comdex/Fall next week.

Jones, the energetic founder and CEO of PCOrder.com Inc., doesn't unplug for very long. You can't when you've built a 3-year-old Trilogy Software spin-off into a company that's helped transform the PC industry and buying process while reaching a market cap of nearly $1 billion.

PCOrder.com has amassed an A-List of computer distributors, resellers, retailers, and corporate buyers who use the service to configure and order systems online. The company employs 240 people plus 90 contractors and has annual revenue of about $60 million; analysts say it should become profitable in early 2001. --Clinton Wilder

Progressive Networks, now called RealNetworks Inc., set out in 1993 to create streaming audio technology for the Internet. The company's RealAudio software has since set standards in the industry--and now the company has just turned its first profit. But company founder Rob Glaser hasn't stopped there. Besides allowing businesses to hold media events and meetings over the Internet, Glaser introduced other technologies aimed at streaming media as well as audio over the Net.

Financially, business has never been better. In October, RealNetworks reported record third-quarter revenue of $34.9 million, up 97% from $17.7 million in the third quarter of 1998. Excluding acquisition charges, net income for the quarter was $4.4 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $2.5 million, or 4 cents a share, in the same quarter last year.

--Jennifer Mateyaschuk

Since its well-publicized founding in 1996, Marimba Inc. has launched its Castanet product, raised $19 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and gone public. More important, it survived the carnage of the hype-and-bust "push-technology" craze. Founder Kim Polese says that's because she has remained true to her original goals for the company during the past three years. "We've evolved but not strayed from our original vision that the Internet should be like utility services," Polese says.

Marimba's Castanet lets users install and automatically update applications within a company or across the Internet. The company has signed more than 100 customers, including Charles Schwab, Home Depot, and Sears, Roebuck. Analysts predict the company will become profitable in the third quarter of next year and that its annual revenue will double to approximately $30 million in 2000.

--Jennifer Mateyaschuk

return to the FutureWeb menu page

Back to This Week's Issue
Send Us Your Feedback
Top of the Page