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To: ecommerceman who wrote (7843)	7/31/1999 10:43:00 PM
From: Francis Muir	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13953

"[Note: this is a significant admission, as Todd Shaver--the editor of The Bull Market Report--initially recommended EGRP investors to sell their shares after the Telebank investment..." His advice may have been quite sound. Where would we be today if we had dumped our EGRP in favor of Telebank on the announcement date? Fido

To: ecommerceman who wrote (7843)	8/1/1999 11:10:00 AM
From: New Economy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13953

The venture mimics Softbank's strategy of providing a platform to launch successful U.S. Internet companies in Japan. The investment giant currently boasts Yahoo Nasdaq: YHOO), ETrade (Nasdaq: EGRP), InsWeb, and Onsale (ONSL)among its internationalized portfolio companies. herring.com Aricle pasted below: Softbank and News Corporation plan eVentures By Georgie Raik-Allen Redherring.com July 10, 1999 International investor Softbank has teamed up with News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) to create a venture that will launch U.S. Internet companies into the Australian, New Zealand, Indian, and United Kingdom markets. Headquartered in London, eVentures is jointly owned by Softbank and News Corporation subsidiary ePartners. The partners will each sink an initial $50 million into the venture, but expect to make further investments in the future. "The $50 million is not a ceiling," says Jesse Parker, Softbank director of international business development. "We will spend what we need to fulfill our goals." LOCAL ACCESS The main goal is to provide "market access incubation" to U.S. Internet companies, primarily those in the Softbank portfolio, in local markets. The venture will establish offices in the target countries to provide local services ranging from administrative support to Internet access, recruiting, market research, and networking. "The U.S. Internet company will contribute its brand, technology, and market positioning and eVentures will provide the capital and local resources," Mr. Parker says. The venture mimics Softbank's strategy of providing a platform to launch successful U.S. Internet companies in Japan. The investment giant currently boasts Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), ETrade (Nasdaq: EGRP), InsWeb, and Onsale (ONSL) among its internationalized portfolio companies. In its first deal, eVentures has invested $22.5 million to help establish the British version of E-Loan (Nasdaq: EELN), E-Loan UK. "We take a business model and brand that works in the U.S. and move it across to the UK," Mr. Parker says. "It's a strategy we have pursued very successfully in Japan." The venture has chosen to target Australian, New Zealand, UK, and Indian markets because News Corporation already has a major presence in those countries. The international media organization has been criticized in the past for its lethargy in developing an Internet strategy. Last April, it made an attempt to ramp up its Internet efforts by forming a high-tech venture arm, ePartners, which has so far invested in U.S. stock brokers W.R. Hambrecht & Co. and eVentures. The two corporations have developed a professional relationship since Softbank invested in JSkyB, a satellite television business owned by News Corporation. Mr. Parker said the relationship made News Corporation a natural partner for eVentures. MODERN ZAIBATSU Softbank's founder and prominent leader, Masayoshi Son, calls his strategy of launching U.S. companies into global markets "Internet zaibatsu," in reference to the powerful Japanese economic companies of the last century that held minority stakes in many operating groups and worked to create synergies between them. "It's like an actively managing holding company," explains Mr. Parker. "It forms the basis of our strategy for internationalizing our Internet companies." Mr. Son is considered by many to be the Bill Gates of Japan for creating a multibillion-dollar computing business that currently controls 70 percent of the Japanese packaged software market. The billionaire built an even bigger reputation as the company evolved into an Internet investor that bet early on companies like Yahoo, GeoCities, and ETrade. Mr. Son believes the Internet momentum these companies have helped to create is spreading from the U.S. and will hit the European market later this year, with Asia shortly following. He hopes to apply Softbank's success in incubating U.S. Internet businesses in Japan to incubating them in emerging global markets. As part of the strategy, Softbank has also struck a deal with French media conglomerate Vivendi to form @visto, a venture that will incubate Internet companies in continental Europe. The new organization will be headquartered in France and will target the French, German, Spanish, and Italian markets.