AOL co-founder Steve Case describes the circumstances surrounding America Online's initial public offering in 1992.
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 …”
Insight
Case: Tech success has shifted from product building to navigating regulation
“And the early days was, can you build it? Now it's really much more, can you commercialize it? Can you break through. And for a growing number of companies, also, can you navigate some of the policy challenges, some of the regulatory issues in areas like healt…”
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.”