Startups.com
Startups.com was the "ultimate dot-com startup", founded in 1998 [1] Startups.com was based in Silicon Valley and had offices in New York and Boston.
Operations
Startups.com was a venture-backed accelerator which had a niche market during the dot-com bubble boom where it would partner with other startup companies to handle many of the details of setting up office and operations so these companies could focus on their core business, operate more efficiently and get to market faster. The minimum fee was $25,000, scaling upwards depending on the scope of the project.[2]
Some of the services provided by Startups.com included Real Estate and Space Planning, Interior Design and Furniture, Technology Infrastructure, Telecommunications and Voice Mail, Legal and Accounting, Payroll, Benefits and Staffing, Insurance, Marketing Communications and Launch Events. In the fall of 2000, Startups.com launched an online Internet business infrastructure procurement system named ReferralXpert. Its roster of clients included Google, Epinions, eVite, and GuruNet (now called Answers.com).
History
Startups.com was founded in 1998 with CEO Donna Jensen, a former VentureOne executive, and Director of Services Justin Segal.[2] Segal drew on previous experience as a law school graduate renting office space out to startup companies.[2]
The company was officially launched business operations on March 1, 2000, after securing capital from investors.[3] On May 10, it announced it had secured $15 million in a second round of funding.[3][note 1]
In November 2000, Startups.com opened its New York office.[4]
In early 2001, after the market shifted and many of the other startup companies went out of business, Startups.com attempted to transition to a research company focused on the startup market. It also changed its name first to Startups, Inc. and ultimately to Startups Intelligence Group.
Due to the massive change in market conditions, in January 2002 Startups.com made the decision to return millions in capital to investors and officially closed its doors, fading into history as a part of the dot-com era.
Later history
In January 2008, the domain name Startups.com was acquired by KillerStartups,[5] forming a new company called Network, Inc.[6] based in Miami, FL.
On November 5, 2009, Startups.com was relaunched as a wiki Q&A website.[7]
In April 2011, Startups.com was relauched as a daily deal retail site, but was not profitable and was shut down on May 4, 2012.[8]
On August 21, 2012, the Startups.com domain went on sale.[9] It has since been purchased.
Notes
- ↑ The lead investor was Redleaf Venture Management, followed by Garage.com, Constantin Partners, CrossFire Ventures, Roni Capital, Staenberg Venture Partners, Venture Factory, and angel investors.
See also
References
- ↑ Evans, Sean. "The 50 Worst Internet Startup Fails of All Time", Complex, 18 October 2012. Accessed March 1, 2014.
- 1 2 3 Boulton, Clint. "Startups.com: Flight of the Virtual Incubator", InternetNews.com, 3 March 2000. Accessed March 1, 2014.
- 1 2 "Startups.com Raises $15 Million in Second Round; Funding From Leading VC Firms and Private Investors Fuels Expansion.", BusinessWire, 10 May 2000. Accessed March 1, 2014.
- ↑ "Startups.com Announces the Opening of its New York Office at "The Art of the Startup" Gala; Event to Celebrate a Smarter Way of Building Fast-Track Startups". Press Release. 2 November 2000. Accessed March 1, 2014.
- ↑ Killerstartups.com
- ↑ Startupsnetwork.com
- ↑ Techcrunch.com
- ↑
- ↑