SoCal TechNews - Monday, July 19, 1999
Copyright (c) 1999 by Benjamin F. Kuo
http://www.socaltech.com
-- Launch: The MTV of the Internet?
-- SBC in Deal with DirecTV
-- GoTo.com Deposes Eisner
-- Special: Interview with Scott Painter, CEO of CarsDirect.com
Upcoming Events http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/calendar.pl
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Launch: The MTV of the Internet?
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David Goldberg, CEO of Santa Monica based Launch.com, wants Launch to be
the MTV of the Internet. The all-music web site hopes not only to build the
largest library of music videos on the net, but also the biggest music
news operation.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/wr/story.html?s=v/nm/19990719/wr/tech_launc
h_4.html
SBC in Deal with DirecTV
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SBC Communications, one of the nation's largest local phone companies,
is in a marketing and distribution partnership with El Segundo based
DirecTV.
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/07/biztech/articles/16phone.html
GoTo.com Deposes Eisner
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Pasadena based GoTo.com, in its trademark lawsuit against Walt Disney,
has deposed Disney chairman Michael Eisner. GoTo.com is seeking a
preliminary injunction against Disney's Go Network logo.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,0-39273,00.html?st.ne.lh..ni
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Special: Interview with Scott Painter, CEO of CarsDirect.com
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CarsDirect.com is one of the latest hot startups to come out of
Bill Gross' idealab. His company, CarsDirect.com, is looking to capture
a portion of the huge number of car purchases that are now starting to
shift to the web.
Coming up later this week we'll hear from Jim McDermott, one of the original
founders of Stamps.com.
Scott Painter:
BK: How did you come up with the idea of CarsDirect, and what made you
decide to make it a business?
SP: Bill Gross, founder of idealab! tried to go on-line and buy a car through
Auto-By-Tel, CarPoint, and AutoWeb. The experience was extremely
frustrating. Imagine if Amazon.com referred you to a bookstore.
CarsDirect.com was designed to be a total car buying solution based on
providing an alternative to the time consuming and frustrating task of
buying a car through a dealership. Our customers get total objectivity,
zero pressure, up-front pricing, huge savings of time and money and they can
have the car delivered directly to their door. The vision for this company
is focused on providing consumers with the ultimate car buying experience,
the internet makes that possible.
BK: How did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
SP:It was never a choice - I have always been one. I was raised to believe in
myself and ulimited possibilities. The things that are happening in the
technology side of business make it an obvously great time to be an
entrepreneur.
BK: How did you get involved with idealab, and how has the experience been
as part of the idealab portfolio of companies?
SP:Bill Gross came across my resume and called me and asked "I want to sell
cars on-line, can you do it?" It has been a phenomenal experience that
would not have been possible without the idealab! contribution.
BK: What kind of advice would you give other high tech entrepreneurs looking
to start their own companies here?
SP: Know the future, solve the problem, and decide whether you're the tail
or the dog.
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Upcoming Events This Week
Full calendar at http://www.socaltech.com/calendar/calendar.pl
** Am I missing your event? Tell me about it! ben@socaltech.com
July 17-18, Los Angeles -- AniFest '99: celebrating the art and industry of
animation, presented by the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA) for
more information, visit: http://www.asifa-hollywood.org
July 20, Los Angeles -- "Dinner & A Deal #11" Association for Interactive
Media networking event. See http://interactivehq.org/html/dd11.htm
July 21, Santa Monica -- "What's in a Name?" Impact! Software Council of
Southern California Sales and Marketing Network. See
http://www.scsc.org/mktg.htm
July 21, Irvine -- "Is the Future of E-Commerce in E-Mail?" Ben Isaacson,
executive director of the Association for Interactive Media (AIM). See
http://www.extraworld.com/calendar.html
July 22, Irvine -- "RAISING MONEY: DEALS FUNDED BY INVESTMENT BANKERS"
Sponsored by the Tech Coast Venture Network. For more information visit:
http://www.tcvn.org/forums.htm
July 23, Camarillo -- Manufacturer's Technology Conference, hosted by the
Economic Development Collaborative of Ventura County. For more information
call 805.384.1800 x 21
July 26, Los Angeles -- "Intro to HTML and HTML Optimization" WebGrrls Los
Angeles. See http://www.webgrrls-la.com
July 29, Westwood -- "Summer-Brew" Westwood Biobrew. Swap surfing tips and
tanning secrets with your fellow biomedical industry entrepreneurs,
investors, bankers and service providers. Contact Bill Robbins at
Convergent Ventures (310-643-7990, billr@convergentventures.com) or Steve
Sisskind at Angeles Ventures (310-550-1080 steve@angelesventures.com).
http://www.angelesventures.com/biobrew.html
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