CASE STUDY: BROADCAST.COM
In 1995 I left a 12 year corporate technology career to pursue my part-time consulting and publishing activities full time. I had started a software publishing company, Timberwolf, a few years before with a successful product called “Writers Desktop Database” which was co-published with Jeff Herman’s annual reference guide, the “Insiders Guide to Book Editors, Publishers and Literary Agents.”
One of my first consulting clients was an energetic entrepreneur with a back-bedroom startup company with the aim to broadcast college sports over the Internet. The entrepreneur was Mark Cuban and the company later became AudioNet.com, and, later, broadcast.com. Four incredible years later, Yahoo! bought us for $5.4 billion.
As employee # 1, I initially served as Director of Technology. While Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner were out raising money and making deas, I built the initial infrastructure, designed and implimented new Internet technologies and pushed the envelope to create the largest aggregator and distributor of audio and video on the planet.
I produced and directed the then largest Internet broadcast events, with 1million+ viewers, including the Super Bowl, World Series, Victoria’s Secret, 1st live broadcast from China (Intel product launch), Playboy CyberParty, NCAA Final Four, 400+ radio stations & TV/Cable networks, MLB All Star Game, and over 16,000 live events.
Gradually, I was weaned away from daily technical responsibilities as I worked more and more with our partners to build-out new areas of the business. As VP of International Development and Special Projects I led expansion in into Europe and Asia and managed many hot-button special projects.
Among many side projects was an online media publishing project, branded with my side company’s name “Timberwolf Press.” I sponsored and published online the worlds first Internet audiobook, which was released in serialized form. The 42 half-hour episodes of alien invasion mayhem, written, produced and performed by my friend Jim Cline, were a cult-hit. I also published the book in hardback. The webisodes were, at the time, the most listened-to audiobook on the web. We received thousands of emails as well as many flame mails when we were late with an episode.
In late 1999, the writing was on the wall after the Yahoo! merger. I left to explore the market research from our webisode project and to return to Timberwolf as a full time effort.
