Email from Billserv
billserv.com (NQB Electronic Pink Sheets BLLS) is featured in an article in InformationWeek Online at informationweek.com. Beth Bacheldor then profiles billserv.co and it's Senoir VP, David Jones, as one of eight companies poised to become the next internet success stories. See Article at informationweek.com
InformationWeek NEWS online
November 8, 1999
Innovative Startups
Young, innovative companies are poised to become the next Internet success stories
by Clinton Wilder, Jennifer Mateyaschuk, Beth Bacheldor, and Ramin P. Kaleshgari
The story of the Web is the story of change. Many companies that didn't exist three years ago are among today's leaders in Internet commerce, technology, and influence. Although there are plenty of barriers to entry, and many more barriers to success, hundreds of new Web companies start up every month in the hopes of becoming the next Netscape, Amazon.com, or Yahoo. The history of business and technology has never seen anything quite like it.
So which among today's emerging companies have the best chance to make their mark on the Web economy in the next two to three years? Thousands of venture capitalists and other investors spend hours on that question, and we can't pretend to know the answer. But we do believe that the eight companies profiled in the following pages have a good chance to evolve from names you may not know today to companies you'll be doing business with in the next few years.
Their innovative ideas are as diverse as the Web itself. Their business models include localizing Web content, selling excess telecom capacity, offering an online marketplace for IT services, and delivering videos and frozen pizzas. But they all share a common vision: that the Web offers a better and more efficient way to bring buyers and sellers together.
Just about every industry has begun to see the inevitable reality that major changes are taking place in the way business is done. As the new century begins, these eight companies will be among the ones that will make it happen.
Kozmo.com tries to establish the next generation of E-commerce: Web convenience combined with fast delivery
CarsDirect.com aims to revolutionize the car-selling industry while saving buyers time and money
ITsquare.com helps match companies and consulting firms for software development work
Accompany aims to bring buyers together online for volume discounts
E-Scan combines grocery-buying data with Web-use statistics and trends
Kinzan.com lets companies inject local flavor into Web sites while keeping central control
billserv.com targets midsize companies seeking to outsource their online-billing operations
billserv.com Profile
FutureWeb:
Billserv.com Helps Pay The Bills
By Beth Bacheldor
Three years ago, 24-year-old David Jones spent $65 on a charity raffle so he could dine with--and pitch a business plan to--his boss, CEO Parris Holmes Jr. of Billing Concepts, a third-party provider of billing clearinghouse and information services to the telecommunications industry.
It was money well-spent. Today, Jones is sitting on top of a startup with millions in its coffers and an opportunity to become the billing clearinghouse on the Internet. The lunch marked the beginning of billserv.com, Inc., which Jones founded last year with two other former Billing Concepts employees, Michael Long and Louis Hoch.
Billserv.com is an electronic service bureau used to present and pay all sorts of bills online. There is growing interest in that capability, especially among Billserv.com's target market: midsize companies seeking to outsource their online billing operations. Market research firm Killen & Associates estimates the online-billing market will grow from about $4 billion in 2000 to $19 billion in 2005.
Billserv.com has already signed 10 customers, including Central Hudson Gas & Electric, Homes & Shaw, Sallie Mae, Ultramar Diamond Shamrock, and San Antonio Water System. It has formal relationships with Bank of America, Blue Gill Software, CheckFree, and CyberCash. Jones says acting as the middleman will make it easier for small and midsize companies to offer their customers online billing. Going through an intermediary service such as Billserv.com lets billers pay per transaction, rather than building legacy-to-Web connections to companies such as CheckFree.
"We want to be the company that takes the bill from the biller and gets it to the mailbox by sending the bills to TransPoint, Bank of America, or CheckFree," Jones says. "All they have to do is have one relationship with Billserv."
At A Glance
billserv.com
City: San Antonio
Key Management and Founders: Michael Long, chairman and CEO; Louis Hoch, president and chief operating officer; David Jones, senior VP
Year founded: July 1998
Employees: 40
Amount of venture funding to date: Approximately $15.3 million
Business: Electronic bill presentment and payment service bureau |
