Intend Change
Encyclopedia
Intend Change was a consulting business launched in 1999 by Joe Firmage
, Toby Corey, Wayne Tsuchitani, and Bruce Gilpin. Operating out of Palo Alto, California
, it leased offices from USWeb/CKS, another consulting firm started by Firmage and Corey, where Corey was still chief operating officer. The arrangement also included having USWeb as "the exclusive provider of technology and integration services" to Intend Change clients. Intend Change was also supported by two venture capital
firms, Softbank Technology Ventures and Crosspoint Venture Partners.
Firmage called Intend Change "a venture construction company." The company planned to advise Internet startups on how to develop a business plan
and obtain venture capital. In exchange for its services, Intend Change would take a ten percent equity stake in the client.
Intend Change managed to raise a reported $225 million and start five companies before being folded back into these entities about a year after its own launch. The first of these was Electron Economy, a company founded by Firmage, Corey, and Vincent Gulisano, focusing on transaction logistics in e-commerce. Other launches that followed included Infrastructure Defense (or iDefense), a network security research company, Invesmart, a financial services portal, and HardCloud, an online community for extreme sports. Another effort was online training provider iGeneration, a rebranded version of an earlier spinoff known as USWeb Learning.
In dissolving Intend Change, some of the principals moved to more direct management roles to try and keep these companies going. Corey described the strategy as "a move to reduce risk, retrench and ensure basic business fundamentals." He stayed on with Electron Economy as CEO and also took over iGeneration temporarily before handing it off to Gary Millrood. HardCloud was managed briefly by Tsuchitani before shutting down when a merger with surfing site Swell.com failed to materialize. Meanwhile, Firmage moved on to another project, working with Ann Druyan
on a science portal.
Invesmart and iDefense continued under their own management teams, while iGeneration was eventually liquidated. Electron Economy managed to secure several clients including Sony, providing e-Fulfillment for the Playstation 2 and Egghead.com (Egghead went into bankruptcy in 2001). Electron Economy was acquired by another Softbank portfolio company, Viewlocity, in September 2001. VeriSign
ultimately bought iDefense in July 2005 for $40 million in cash, while Invesmart, the last of these companies still operating independently, was bought by StanCorp
in 2006.
Joe Firmage
Joseph Firmage is an American Internet entrepreneur. He founded several business ventures prior to and during the dot-com boom and currently is involved with two closely linked organizations: ManyOne Networks, of which he is CEO, and the Digital Universe Foundation, of which he is a co-founder and...
, Toby Corey, Wayne Tsuchitani, and Bruce Gilpin. Operating out of Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
, it leased offices from USWeb/CKS, another consulting firm started by Firmage and Corey, where Corey was still chief operating officer. The arrangement also included having USWeb as "the exclusive provider of technology and integration services" to Intend Change clients. Intend Change was also supported by two venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
firms, Softbank Technology Ventures and Crosspoint Venture Partners.
Firmage called Intend Change "a venture construction company." The company planned to advise Internet startups on how to develop a business plan
Business plan
A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals....
and obtain venture capital. In exchange for its services, Intend Change would take a ten percent equity stake in the client.
Intend Change managed to raise a reported $225 million and start five companies before being folded back into these entities about a year after its own launch. The first of these was Electron Economy, a company founded by Firmage, Corey, and Vincent Gulisano, focusing on transaction logistics in e-commerce. Other launches that followed included Infrastructure Defense (or iDefense), a network security research company, Invesmart, a financial services portal, and HardCloud, an online community for extreme sports. Another effort was online training provider iGeneration, a rebranded version of an earlier spinoff known as USWeb Learning.
In dissolving Intend Change, some of the principals moved to more direct management roles to try and keep these companies going. Corey described the strategy as "a move to reduce risk, retrench and ensure basic business fundamentals." He stayed on with Electron Economy as CEO and also took over iGeneration temporarily before handing it off to Gary Millrood. HardCloud was managed briefly by Tsuchitani before shutting down when a merger with surfing site Swell.com failed to materialize. Meanwhile, Firmage moved on to another project, working with Ann Druyan
Ann Druyan
Ann Druyan is an American author and producer specializing in productions about cosmology and popular science. She made substantial contributions to the PBS documentary series, Cosmos, and was the wife of late scientist and educator, Carl Sagan.-Film career:Along with Carl Sagan and Steven Soter,...
on a science portal.
Invesmart and iDefense continued under their own management teams, while iGeneration was eventually liquidated. Electron Economy managed to secure several clients including Sony, providing e-Fulfillment for the Playstation 2 and Egghead.com (Egghead went into bankruptcy in 2001). Electron Economy was acquired by another Softbank portfolio company, Viewlocity, in September 2001. VeriSign
VeriSign
Verisign, Inc. is an American company based in Dulles, Virginia that operates a diverse array of network infrastructure, including two of the Internet's thirteen root nameservers, the authoritative registry for the .com, .net, and .name generic top-level domains and the .cc and .tv country-code...
ultimately bought iDefense in July 2005 for $40 million in cash, while Invesmart, the last of these companies still operating independently, was bought by StanCorp
StanCorp Financial Group, Inc.
StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. is a publicly traded Fortune 1000 company based in Portland, Oregon, United States. In 2006 it ranked as number 731 on the Fortune list with in excess of $2 billion in annual revenues. StanCorp is an insurance and financial services corporation founded in 1906...
in 2006.