CEO
Egghead.com Inc.
Menlo Park, California
It's nearly impossible to reposition your company once that company has gone public. So, if you're planning a relaunch, make sure that you have a good plan to get your company's story out there.
First, of course, you need to know what your company's story is -- and to have its details clear. Second, you need to make sure that your message is consistent. Then, you have to make your case strongly, in every way that you can imagine, inside and outside the company.
Egghead has relaunched twice. The first time came in 1997, when it shut down many of its retail outlets and relaunched itself as a Web-based company that sold software and computers. The second time came last fall, when Egghead merged with Onsale Inc. and expanded to sell a full spectrum of technology-related products. In both cases, Egghead knew exactly what its relaunch story would be.
But one thing that we underestimated was the effort that it would take to communicate our story to the world. That effort already has been both expensive and time-consuming. We spent $20 million on television advertising in the fourth quarter alone. And we're still not done. People call me all the time saying, "Oh, Egghead -- you sell software in stores."
Jerry Kaplan was cofounder, chairman, and CEO of Onsale Inc., an Internet retailer, before that company's merger with Egghead.com last fall. Previously, Kaplan cofounded Go Corp., which developed PenPoint, a pen-based operating system, and he was a principal technologist at Lotus Development Corp., where he coauthored Lotus Agenda. His book "Startup -- A Silicon Valley Adventure" (Houghton Mifflin, 1995) recounts his experiences at Go. Founded in 1984 under the name Egghead Discount Software, Egghead.com became entirely Web-based in 1998 and is now a $515 million company.
Chairman and CEO
HomeGrocer.com
Kirkland, Washington
I spent years as an executive in corporate America before I relaunched myself as an executive in a dotcom company. That's a pretty big leap -- especially when you consider that I'm not your typical Internet exec. I'm 50 years old in a company whose average employee is about 30. When you make that kind of change, it's important to remember that there are no stupid questions. You have to bring with you a willingness to learn -- to stretch yourself and not to back away from a challenge.
You also need to understand all the positives that you bring to the table. In my case, along with a little gray hair comes an ability to keep priorities straight -- a particularly valuable skill when you're faced with the myriad partnering opportunities that Internet companies are faced with every day. I understand what is important and what isn't, and that understanding allows us to keep moving forward quickly. I also know not to panic over stock-price swings. Having experienced 30 years of the market's ups and downs, I bring a calming effect to our organization because I know that at the end of the day, our results are what matters.
Mary Alice Taylor (mat@homegrocer.com) joined HomeGrocer.com in September 1999, in time to launch its IPO in March 2000. She got her first job at age 13, opening her aunt's restaurant in Mississippi each morning at 5:30 AM. She served in various senior-management roles at Federal Express for 16 years, most recently as senior vice president of ground operations. For the past two years, she served as Citigroup Inc.'s executive VP of global operations and technology. HomeGrocer.com, which last year brought in $21.64 million in net sales, employs about 1,600 people in seven locations, and provides home delivery of groceries, games, videos, and books over the Internet.
Executive Vice President and COO
Master Lock Co.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Director of Research and Innovation
Design Continuum Inc.
Boston, Massachusetts
John Heppner: How do you take a 50-year-old product and relaunch it into something contemporary and competitive? That was a question that we faced in 1996, when we were confronted with declining market share. Our answer was to get outside help, because we knew that we had blind spots. It took an outsider to show us that there's also an emotional dimension to buying locks.
Harry West: Our job was to begin to care about padlocks -- but to care through the eyes of a consumer rather than through the eyes of Master Lock. We learned that consumers didn't care about padlocks: They cared about the things that they wanted to secure. By working with buyers whom we identified as most attuned and most passionate, we created padlock designs that connect more emotionally with everyday users.
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