AOL co-founder Steve Case contrasts the early internet startup era with the challenges facing modern founders.
Opinion
Case: AOL Time Warner Merger Made Sense but Failed on Execution
“I always believe, still believe, the idea of the merger made sense. I think it really was the execution, particularly around people and culture, where things got rocky, and I was very frustrated that the company wasn't able to achieve the kind of vision that I…”
Opinion
Steve Case: The internet would not exist without government intervention
“The internet wouldn't exist without the government. You know, it was the government 50 years ago that funded DARPA that created the internet. It was the government Through the judicial system that broke up the phone company, you know, Ma Bell, which unleashed …”
Assertion Contradicted
Case: In 1985, fewer than a dozen VC firms backed startups
“In the early days when we got started, and AOL was started, as you mentioned, in 1985, it was really, can you raise the money to get launched? And not that many people could. It was, there was only a handful of maybe less than a dozen venture capitalists back …”
Insight
Case: College services must sell to guilty parents, not cash-poor students
“You can't really sell to the students, because they don't have much money, and they prioritize beer. You have to sell to the parents who are missing their kids, love their kids, and maybe feeling a little guilty about, you know, things”
Disclosure
Case: AOL Management Started with 0% Equity in 1985 Restart
“Essentially, management started with zero of the company, and the investors with a hundred percent.”
Insight
Steve Case: The killer app of the internet was always community
“We always believed that the killer app of the internet was people. Some thought it would be content, particularly the media companies. Some thought it would be commerce, particularly the retail companies. We thought content and commerce would be important, but…”