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 Through
much of Genesis Strategies history, its partners have been involved
in technology startup ventures. In early 1998, the partners
conducted a strategy session to discuss ways to leverage this
experience to increase the company's clientele. An outgrowth
of these sessions was a principle called "transference".
The principle relates to the market potential of technology
products, and states that "for a technology product to be successful,
it must improve people's ability to move information over time
and/or distance.
Applying this
principle to past and present technology products, the concept
of an "electronic book" was derived in late 1996. Research
indicated that there were few major patents issued in the area
and that there was serious potential for such a product.
Armed with this vision, Genesis Strategies completed a business
plan for The Intelligent Book Company and began to seek funding.
The company was weeks from a first round of investment when
two companies, NuvoMedia
and Softbook Press announced
products, leading Genesis Strategies to abandon their efforts.
As with many new ventures, a great idea must be accompanied
by proper timing.
Use the following
links if you would like to read the Intelligent Book Company
business plan or view a company presentation:
Business Plan
Investor Presentation
Update - We would be remiss
in view of the recent history of this category to not bring
the story to current. While every entrepreneur kicks themselves
when they see their dream realized by others, most also gain
a level of satisfaction knowing that their idea was a good one,
even if ill-timed. We take a great deal of pride in knowing
that the product approach that we planned on taking is in many
ways identical to the direction
Amazon.com
has pursued with the
Kindle
(own one and LOVE it!). As for Nuvomedia and SoftBook
Press...
NuvoMedia was eventually acquired by
GemStar (the
then owner of TV Guide), who struck a partnership with
Franklin Electronics (www.franklin.com)
to handle production and distribution. Unfortunately
they were never that well received among the book publishers
and suffered from a dearth of content. A Google search
for "NuvoMedia Rocket eBook" will yield a wealth
of results from all those that were 12 years ago starving
for such a device.
SoftBook Press was also eventually acquired by
GemStar, who struck
a partnership with Franklin Electronics (www.franklin.com)
to handle production and distribution. They suffered
from the same issues as NuvoMedia, however their platform
and e-book technology was considered the best of the day,
and was eventually adopted by Microsoft (read
more...).
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