In Wallstreet Journal
Chris Hassett has done what few Internet pioneers have
done: taken a big idea, posted some software on the
World Wide Web and found advertisers willing to pay
to reach the million people who use it. But he won't be
running his company, PointCast Inc., when it launches its
long-expected initial public offering.
The company said Mr. Hassett and his board of
directors have agreed that they should find a new chief
executive to take over from the 34-year-old Mr.
Hassett, who will remain as chairman. As with many
other entrepreneurs, Mr. Hassett is considered more
suited to founding companies than running them. Still,
stepping aside at this point is unusual, given PointCast's
apparent success.
"The decision to step up and be chairman and bring in a
new chief executive, from a personal perspective, is
always a hard one," Mr. Hassett said in an interview.
But he said he supported the board's decision, in part
because offering the top spot was the best way to attract
a top-tier executive to the company. "The decision to
build a great company is an easy one. That's what this is
about."
A stock offering by the Cupertino, Calif., start-up, which
broadcasts news and advertising over the Internet,
would be a referendum on "push" media, an emerging
technology that delivers information to computer users
automatically, relieving them of the burden of surfing the
World Wide Web. No date has been set for the
offering.
PointCast has retained well-known headhunter David
Beirne, co-founder of Ramsey/Beirne Associates Inc.,
who recently became a general partner of Benchmark
Partners, a venture capital firm that holds an equity stake
in PointCast. Mr. Beirne, who has recruited high-profile
technology executives for companies such as Novell Inc.
and Netscape Communications Corp., said the "Peter
Principle" often applies to company founders as the
challenges of a growing company outstrip their previous
experience.
"We're looking for 'Mr. Right,' " said Kevin Harvey, also
a partner with Benchmark Partners and a member of
PointCast's board. "Our goal is to build a huge company
and that means going public."
Mr. Hassett founded the company five years ago on the
belief that a society accustomed to television would
cotton to the idea of information being pushed to them
over the Internet, so they didn't have to go find it
themselves. Within nine months of launching the service,
he had one million users.
But board members said he is now stepping aside to
allow a seasoned manager to steer the company through
the treacherous transition from hot start-up to
established media franchise. "Chris and the board
decided that the thing to do as the company begins to
operate at a different level is to recruit a world class
CEO," said Jonathan Feiber, a venture capitalist with
Mohr, Davidow Partners and a member of PointCast's
board.
Both Netscape and Microsoft Corp. are building push
features into the next generation of their Web browsers.
As a result, several companies have recently scrapped
their "push" offerings, including Individual Inc., which
said last week it would shut down its Freeloader site on
the Web.
Any PointCast IPO has a high hurdle to clear. In March,
Mr. Hassett and the board turned down an acquisition
offer from News Corp. of between $350 million and
$450 million. He denied that other board members
favored the deal. Last July, PointCast raised $36 million
in a private offering that put a total valuation on the
company of about $250 million. An earlier round of
venture-capital financing raised $12 million. |
