Talked to Mike yesterday and again today. Some comments worth mentioning:
1. YPAY (Free Internet service) work continues. Mentioned Ericsson was continuing to expand their role in the project. Told him to sign me up for the pilot project. Pilot starts 5/99. Very slick technology for downloading and displaying full Screen Ads during wait times. Next step is to get advertising lined up. Probably use an existing 'Net Ad firm. Lots of infrastructure on the back end, almost everything is in place. I think that this launch is bigger than we realize. Netzero, similar concept, already has 500K+ subscribers.
2. They're talking to various companies about using their auction engine for vertical markets. Didn't get any details on who. They have an exclusive with their Bid-Ask auction engine. They're about a year ahead of the competition. Auction engine is generic, can be used to buy/sell anything. They're looking for some vertical sites to enter. If anyone knows of a vertical industry buyer or organization, please PM me. Mike mentioned lumber, paper, drilling supplies, etc. Any industry that has organized buyers/sellers. Again, this is a real-time, NASDAQ-like, bid-ask application, matching bidders to sellers.
3. Looking to advertise their auction sites to generate traffic. Inventory continues to build. Expanding links with other sites.
4. Asked about Priority One. DD Looks good. Didn't give me a timeframe. This gives them the back-end check and credit card processing. Several years ahead of the competition. They would then have all of the e-commerce pieces in place -- sales, design, programming, integration, check/credit card processing, etc.
I think that in the next 60 days, perhaps 30 days, we're all going to be pleasantly surprised. |
