>>Given where this company is on their "Roadmap", I have to agree with you. I think that to continue on the path they have set out for themselves, this will require some news. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.<<
LOL - I guess we got the message sooner, rather than later! This looks very, very solid! I love a management team who has "Been there - Done that before"!
Great News! Really Great News!
Crazy Canuk
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ANSWERS.COM RECRUITS MIKE MORRISON FROM HOMEPAGE.COM & OPENS PASADENA OFFICE
?building the assets for rapid growth
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA & CALGARY, ALBERTA, October 19 1999 - Answers.com and Net Shepherd Inc. (ASE: WEB) today announced that Mike Morrison, the founder of HomePage.com and veteran of numerous Internet start-ups has joined Answers.com as President.
?This is great news for Answers.com?, said Don Sandford, President and CEO of Net Shepherd, Inc., majority owner of Answers.com. ?There is enormous potential for Answers.com. In the Roadmap that we issued in August, we pointed out the growth of e-commerce and the increasing importance of companies? Customer Relations across the Internet. Answers.com?s initial market is the two million US businesses already on-line - a number expected to double in the next four years. Answers.com will be offering an Internet-based equivalent of call centers for these businesses. This is a huge market. According to the International Data Corporation, the amount of money that businesses around the world spend on running conventional call centers - the activity that Answers.com will be offering on the Net - is already $23 billion and is expected to rise to $56 billion by 2003.?
?We have high expectations of Answers.com?, continued Sandford. ?With Mike?s added leadership, experience and skills, we are confident that Answers.com will become a leading provider of customer service tools to companies doing business on the Internet.?
?I have known Mike for several years during our involvement with idealab! companies?, added Answers? CEO, Bill Fogg. ?He brings a wide range of award-winning experience to the team and it?s an indication of Answers? potential that he?s decided to join us. His addition to the already excellent team will help Answers achieve its huge commercial potential.?
?The opening of our Pasadena office provides a physical base from which to access our potential customers and partners,? continued Fogg. ?The team that we?re assembling to work in this office has the capability to meet the needs of these world-class, Internet-savvy customers and I?m very excited by the way that things are coming together.?
Further Details:
Mike Morrison was Founder & VP of Operations at HomePage.com. Prior to HomePage, he was involved in the early stage development of several start-up companies including KidsOnLine.com (an idealab company), the LearningStation, Web Entertainment, Inc., WT, LLC, and KidzStation.
From 1993-97, he founded KnowWare, Inc., a multi-media development firm that has developed award-winning products for companies such as CitySearch (an idealab company), SmartGames (an idealab company), The Learning Company, Knowledge Adventure, and Broderbund.
Other recent Answers.com hires include:
Cynthia O'Keefe, as VP of Product Development. Prior to Answers.com, she was involved in the starting and building out of several start-ups, including Electric SchoolHouse, KidsOnLine.com (an idealab! company), the LearningStation, Web Entertainment, Inc., and KidzStation. She has an IS background, specializing in Executive Information Systems.
Tad Benson, as VP of Sales and Marketing. Prior to joining Answers.com, he worked for GoTo.com and, for a time, managed the company's online marketing efforts. He then developed and managed the company?s first business-to-business marketing program to acquire more advertisers, and within eight months the company increased its active advertiser base by over 625%. Before GoTo.com, he worked for a direct response advertising agency managing his clients' print, direct mail, outdoor, and Web campaigns.
Sean van Leuven, as Director of Customer Service Technologies. Prior to Answers.com, he was the Manager for the Quality Assurance department in the IT Products Group at Visio Corporation. From 1991-1995 he worked at The Learning Company running QA and producing children?s productivity products. Mr. van Leuven has a back ground in product management and quality assurance, specializing in DBMS Modeling Tools and Business Productivity products.
Background Notes:
Net Shepherd, Inc.
Net Shepherd?s technology helps companies that want to transform the way they do business and create new opportunities using the Internet. It is a leading provider of Internet-based community solutions to provide the gathering of information and the management of work at the speed of the Internet.
Net Shepherd develops, partners with and invests in companies that use this technology in a variety of different applications.
Net Shepherd Inc. is traded on The Alberta Stock Exchange under the symbol WEB.
Answers.com
Answers.com was founded by idealab! in 1996 with the goal of creating revenue by providing services whereby consumer questions on any topic would be answered by experts in real time. Answers.com provided this service online and addressed customers through a unique blend of database technology and human expert support.
With the pending re-launch of the site in late November 1999, Answers.com will have a renewed focus of becoming the pre-eminent supplier of ?eRelationship? management tools to companies doing business on the Web. Answers.com?s customer service tool suite will allow companies to create a dialogue with their Web visitors and customers. This dialogue can be used to sell and up-sell products, create a product feedback loop, save customer service operating costs, and gain real-time market intelligence. |
