Business.com serves as a combination directory and business
library. The site allows users to search for businesses on the
Internet by company name or industry. The information on Business.
com is selected and organized by a team of 50 industry experts and
library scientists-your own "librarians," if you
will.
Business.com is new kind of incubatee, one where the idea is
hatched inside the incubator and then handed over to a professional
executive to develop as his or her own. Gumbel came on board with a
founder's stake and the charge to oversee the development of
content on the site, bringing his 16 years of experience as an
award-winning reporter and senior editor at The Wall Street
Journal.
Although Business.com had only incorporated in November 1999,
the site "graduated" to its own space and
self-sufficiency by May 2000 and launched in June. "The real
challenge was to build the company quickly and efficiently, and
that's where the incubator was a tremendous help," says
Gumbel, 42. "We could focus on building a really strong
product and didn't have to worry about being bogged down by
details."
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Christian Gunning of eCompanies says that 80 percent of the
ideas incubated there are generated internally. In its first year,
eCompanies reviewed 4,713 ideas, built business plans for 42 and
chose 11. Companies are rejected for a variety of reasons,
primarily unworkable revenue models, weak audience demand, lack of
addressable markets or low expectation for VC funding down the
road.
Companies that choose the incubator route still need to seek
outside funding to grow. But when the incubated start-up seeks
additional capital, the valuations are typically higher because the
company has a launched site and a strong management team.
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