Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : CMGI What is the latest news on this stock? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DeWAVE who wrote (955)	8/1/1998 6:34:00 PM
From: DeWAVE	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19700

FWIW... a little old but it is good to know who your competitors are. IPO UPDATE: THEGLOBE.COM PREPARES STREET FIGHT WITH GEOCITIES July 29, 1998 Todd Krizelman and Stephan Paternot, founders of the Web community Theglobe.com, have demonstrated that sheer aggressiveness can take you far -- perhaps all the way to Wall Street. But even with Theglobe's GeoCities-like "cities," "districts," and topical channels, will the founders' ambition be enough to push them into GeoCities territory? We may soon see. Theglobe filed last Friday for an IPO valued at $50 million, just days after GeoCities set its price for its own highly anticipated IPO sometime this summer. GeoCities wants to raise up to $66.5 million by offering 4.75 million shares. Will it be a battle, or a rout? "The difference between GeoCities and Theglobe.com is like the difference between the Concorde jet and a commuter train," says John Fitzgibbon, editor of the IPO Reporter. Hitting heavy Last year, Theglobe raised $20 million from Michael Egan, founder of Alamo Rent-a-Car. Mr. Krizelman and Mr. Paternot soon set out to make a name for Theglobe, spending $8 million on print ads and expensive television spots helped them boost their traffic numbers. The site generated more than 100 million pageviews in June, more than double the number in January. Theglobe has been adding on average 100,000 new members a month since last October. Theglobe.com also followed GeoCities' example and upgraded its management team. It named Frank Joyce, the former Reed Elsevier PLC executive, as vice president and chief financial officer. Mr. Egan took the chairman's seat. H. Wayne Huizenga, founder of Blockbuster Entertainment and Waste Management, was named a director. "Both [Theglobe.com and GeoCities] are also classic examples of 'entrepreneur handoff' to more experienced operating management," says Francis Gaskins, editor of Gaskins' IPO Desktop. Worlds to conquer If the two companies look so much alike, why do most analysts agree that GeoCities will leave Theglobe.com in its IPO dust? "Theglobe.com is riding the heels of the tremendous Street success for Internet companies, but the real measure for success has been traffic, and Theglobe is not competing," says Patrick Keane, an analyst at Jupiter Communications. GeoCities has 2.1 million members compared to Theglobe.com's 1.7 million, and it has made big partnerships with Yahoo, Amazon, and CDNow. It has also begun to move beyond Web-page hosting to include new features like a search engine. Meanwhile, Theglobe.com is still focusing on community building and subscriptions. A basic membership is free, though members can also pay either $4.95 or $9.95 per month for additional features. GeoCities lost $8.9 million on revenues of $4.58 million in 1997. Theglobe.com lost $3.58 million on revenues of only $770,000. In the first quarter of 1998, GeoCities reported a loss of $2.9 million on revenues of $2.17 million, while Theglobe.com lost $1.98 million on revenues of $394,000. In a business that is judged more by revenues than by profits -- or lack thereof -- GeoCities clearly comes out on top. Mr. Gaskins notes that until recently GeoCities had been focusing on building traffic, not making money. "Who knows what they can accomplish now with seasoned management?" he says. (GeoCities appointed former U.S. News and World Report publisher Tom Evans CEO earlier this year.) Don