AOL

1. AOL Story: How Steve Case
built the future of the Internet

2. The name America Online (AOL) almost nothing say for Russian users, but
AOL has a huge impact on the development of the Internet and the IT
industry. The history of the rise and fall of AOL can be studied as a lesson
book on doing business, and wrote it man, who became an example for
many entrepreneurs - Steve Case.

3. At the beginning of the history of the brand there was nothing scandalous
or outstanding. Developers created new versions of the software, and
Steve Case searched for new customers, trying to increase profits.
The main goal of the company was to attract as many US residents to
online.

4. Keynes began the development of the
project, which will give AOL further
promotion - the site aol.com. At first it was a
convenient platform for communication and
interaction between network users. Here
everyone could learn news, get help, play
games and much more. Gradually the site
became popular. It became possible to create
an electronic mailbox and other services,
most of which, however, were paid. For some
people in the begin 1990s, this portal was the
all Internet.

5. Successful IPO (Initial Public
Offering), on the one hand,
positively influenced the growth of
the company, and on the other,
attracted undesirable attention of
Microsoft. Bill Gates, who had their
own plans for the development of
the Internet, was interested in
acquiring these "upstarts".

6. Bill Gates, who paid attention to AOL,
immediately demonstrated his
intention, that AOL is better sold,
otherwise Microsoft will start a hostile
takeover or worse, launch its own
services. But he slightly overstretched
the stick: Steve Case, who only seemed
soft, flatly refused to do it, and then
began to prepare for confrontation.
Bill Gates wants to catch up with AOL -
Steve Case has nothing against it, let
him try, and I in the meantime will do
what I can, for example I will increase
the number of users.

7. He began to prepare a large-scale advertising campaign, which started
in 1993: America Online has launched a trial distribution of its software
to increase the number of subscribers. The AOL floppies were almost
everywhere, from inserts in magazines to distribution on the streets. In
addition, they were also sent by mail. According to rumors, a total of
about 250 million diskettes were distributed.

8. Microsoft could not immediately join the war with AOL in full force. The
corporation at that time was fighting on a different front, trying to win
the first browser-based war with Netscape. Steve Case also took part in
this confrontation: he joined the antitrust hearings against Microsoft,
informing the court and the press about the unpleasant facts about
communication with Bill Gates. In 1999, Stive Case bought Netscape in
an attempt to make a serious weapon against Internet Explorer, but he
doesn't reach the goal. But the purchase still benefited: developers
from Netscape became part of AOL.

9. In 1994, the company has a new project, which will be called AOL Instant Messenger. AIM was
certainly a revolutionary development, which quickly gained popularity. Nevertheless, Steve
Case and shareholders of the company overlooked the potential of the project: it seemed to
them savage that the program is free. Innovative development remained for the company a by-
product, and the creators had to constantly prove importance of the project. As a result, AIM did
not realize its potential, and Steve Case, although preaching the importance of the Internet and
the online communication, lost the chance to fundamentally change the industry.

10. The desire to turn the Internet into a convenient means for
communication between different users led Steve Case to pay
attention to the service developed by the Israeli company Mirabilis for
the exchange messages - ICQ. Perhaps AOL should continue develop its
own AIM messenger instead of acquiring someone else services, but
the fight with Microsoft, which also wanted to buy ICQ, made Steve
Case decide on the purchase. The deal cost was $500 million.

11. In 1999, AOL made another acquisition - it was Nullsoft
company, the developer of the Winamp player, which
pleased Windows users. For Steve Case it was another
way to annoy Microsoft. Winamp team agreed to join
AOL because Steve Case was known as an opponent of
Bill Gates and as one of the popularizers of the
Internet.

12. In 2000, the development of AOL reached its peak: the company's revenue was $5 billion, in
addition, it entered the Fortune 500 list of top companies, becoming the first such company in
its field. Steve Case, received recognition and became a regular participant in various business
ratings and entered the list of entrepreneurs who influenced the development of the Internet.
The popularity of AOL in the US was so great that it was compared to the religion in which the
place of God was occupied by Steve Case.

13. In 2015, AOL acquires Millennial Media - one of the largest platforms for
placement mobile advertising for an amount 240 million.

14. In 2017, AOL acquires Yahoo, the world's second most popular search
engine for an amount $5 billion.

15. At the moment, you can find not few people who can remember AOL and as
one of the first providers, and as a provider of electronic services such as mail,
instant messengers or players, and also as a rival to Microsoft. AOL will remain
in the minds of people as a company that embodied the loud words of
America Online in reality.