Say Ratan have you an 'ePinion' on this? 'Instant Company'
One new Internet idea, two enthusiastic venture capitalists, six founders leaving behind millions at the jobs they quit, $8 million raised before a line of code was written, 12 -- count 'em -- 12 weeks
.......
What were you doing 12 weeks ago?
Twelve weeks ago was Nirav Tolia's last day on a pretty enviable job. He is 27, and in addition to managing the marketing of Yahoo!'s E-commerce properties, he had represented the company on television more than 100 times. Almost nobody leaves Yahoo!, but Nirav Tolia had just heard a really interesting start-up idea from a friend, Naval Ravikant, who had recently left @Home. It took Tolia about one day to decide, and the following morning he resigned.......
nytimes.com
epinions.com
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Internet veterans start online consumer guide
By Therese Poletti
SAN FRANCISCO, July 11 (Reuters) - Several former employees of such successful Internet companies as Yahoo, Excite and Netscape, flush with money from their vested stock options, are launching a new online shopping service that will ask consumers for their e-pinions.
''Everyone has an opinion on something,'' said Nirav Tolia, one of the five co-founders of epinions.com, part of a new wave of Silicon Valley start-ups being founded by employees from first-generation Internet companies.
Epinions.com, based in Mountain View, Calif. and formerly known under the code-name Round One, will be an online buying guide based on word-of-mouth opinions contributed by users. It will focus initially on cars, computers, electronics, sports, outdoor travel and books. The reviews will be ranked by other users, Tolia added.
''We are not saying that we are the editorial staff who knows it all, we are at the other end of the spectrum that says consumers know best.''
When it launches in August, the service will offer established consumer buying guides on the Web, and as the community grows, the database of opinions will grow with it.
Tolia was sketchy on how the company plans to make money, saying more details will be forthcoming. He said like most content sites on the Web, epinions.com will try to offer services for free to its community of users and sign up sponsorships.
When the service is launched, epinions.com will also announce a slew of partnerships, Tolia said.
The company was founded in April 1999 by a group of Internet ''veterans'' ranging in ages from 25 to 34, and coming from companies such as Yahoo! Inc., Excite (now ExciteAtHome), and Netscape Communications Corp. (now owned by America Online Inc.) It received $8 million in a first round of venture financing from Benchmark Capital and August Capital.
The group also includes some founding members of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur's forum, called Round Zero, a monthly dinner gathering featuring discussions of technology, share ideas and network.
''We thought, we really can't run an organization for entrepreneurs if we are not really entrepreneurs ourselves,'' Tolia said. ''We have been really lucky because the community we built around Round Zero has really helped.''
Through the Round Zero meetings, Tolia learned of two others, including Netscape engineer Ramanathan Guha, who had similar ideas. They all joined forces to start one company.
''It's not an incredibly novel idea,'' Tolia conceded, adding ''It's an idea whose time has come,'' Tolia said
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