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These Dot-Com Companies From CMGi Were Precursors For Many of Today's Successful Web Products banner image

These Dot-Com Companies From CMGi Were Precursors For Many of Today's Successful Web Products

Yesterday, we took a look at the history of CMGi, an incubator and venture capital firm from the dot-com era.  The company was based in Andover, Massachusetts.  It had a historic rise and a rapid fall, as the internet bubble burst in 2000.

During the mid to late '90s, the internet was the wild west, as lots of companies were being built to leverage this new form of technology.  Regardless of the financial outcome of the companies being built over this time period, they were still groundbreaking and ultimately laid down the foundation for what the internet is today.

We decided to take a look at CMGi's portfolio in Boston (operatings companies and investments) from the dot-com era and translate these companies into the web products of today.

Below are the details in a slideswhow.  We gathered the images from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.  We apologize that some of the images unded up being incomplete, but at least it gives you a glimpse as to what the homepages looked like for each company.

AltaVista, a CMGi Operating Company was established in 1995 and CMGi purchased 80% of the company in 1999. 

Mission:  AltaVista unlocks the boundless potential of the Internet, giving users the most immediate and intelligent access to Internet resources by empowering people with knowledge to succeed in life!

Today's Translation:  AltaVista was one of the world's first search engines, so it was the Google of its time.  It also had a portal strategy competing against Yahoo! and Aol. 

Photo Credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine

AltaVista, a CMGi Operating Company was established in 1995 and CMGi purchased 80% of the company in 1999. 

Mission:  AltaVista unlocks the boundless potential of the Internet, giving users the most immediate and intelligent access to Internet resources by empowering people with knowledge to succeed in life!

Today's Translation:  AltaVista was one of the world's first search engines, so it was the Google of its time.  It also had a portal strategy competing against Yahoo! and Aol. 

Photo Credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine

Domania.com, a CMGi @Ventures investment, was founded in 1989 as INPHO, Inc.  The company was headquartered in Boston.

Mission:  Domania.com is dedicated to empowering consumers by providing them with greater access to valuable and hard-to-find home price data and the tools with which to best utilize this information.

Today's Translation:  Zillow

Photo Credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine

Domania.com, a CMGi @Ventures investment, was founded in 1989 as INPHO, Inc.  The company was headquartered in Boston.

Mission:  Domania.com is dedicated to empowering consumers by providing them with greater access to valuable and hard-to-find home price data and the tools with which to best utilize this information.

Today's Translation:  Zillow

Photo Credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine

iCast, a CMGi operating company, was founded in 1999.  The company was headquartered in Woburn.

Mission:  iCast's mission is to become a major online entertainment content distribution platform. A premier destination where members can create, share & personalize their entertainment experience, as well as discover & interact around a wide variety of original, third-party & member-generated multimedia content.

Today's Translation:  Spotify meets iTunes meets YouTube meets iHeartRadio.  iCast was a comprehensive digital entertainment platform which was ahead of its time.  

It offered music streaming, online radio,  and movie previews.  It allowed up & coming artists the ability to upload their own music.  You could also send in video to iCast, so it could be encoded and made available online.  

Photo Credit: Internet Archive Wayback Machine

iCast, a CMGi operating company, was founded in 1999.  The company was headquartered in Woburn.

Mission:  iCast's mission is to become a major online entertainment content distribution platform. A premier destination where members can create, share & personalize their entertainment experience, as well as discover & interact around a wide variety of original, third-party & member-generated multimedia content.

Today's Translation:  Spotify meets iTunes meets YouTube meets iHeartRadio.  iCast was a comprehensive digital entertainment platform which was ahead of its time.  

It offered music streaming, online radio,  and movie previews.  It allowed up & coming artists the ability to upload their own music.  You could also send in video to iCast, so it could be encoded and made available online.  

Photo Credit: Internet Archive Wayback Machine

Engage, a CMGi Operating Company, was founded in 1995 and grew to over 1,000 employees.  The company was headquartered in Andover.

Mission:  Engage is the only online marketing company to combine optimized media solutions, actionable analytics and enabling technologies with the expertise and insight marketers need to achieve superior results.

Today's Translation:  This is a problem still being solved today from large and small companies like Google, IBM, Oracle, Evergage, Optimizely, and many others.

Photo Credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine

Engage, a CMGi Operating Company, was founded in 1995 and grew to over 1,000 employees.  The company was headquartered in Andover.

Mission:  Engage is the only online marketing company to combine optimized media solutions, actionable analytics and enabling technologies with the expertise and insight marketers need to achieve superior results.

Today's Translation:  This is a problem still being solved today from large and small companies like Google, IBM, Oracle, Evergage, Optimizely, and many others.

Photo Credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine

MotherNature.com, a CMGi @Ventures investment, was established in 1994.  The company's headquarters were based in Concord, MA.

Mission:  To be the source of all things natural, both information and products

Today's Translation:  The Honest Company.  

Side note - MotherNature.com went public in 1999 and later shut down in 2001.

Photo credit: Internet Archive Wayback Machine

MotherNature.com, a CMGi @Ventures investment, was established in 1994.  The company's headquarters were based in Concord, MA.

Mission:  To be the source of all things natural, both information and products

Today's Translation:  The Honest Company.  

Side note - MotherNature.com went public in 1999 and later shut down in 2001.

Photo credit: Internet Archive Wayback Machine

NaviSite, a CMGi operating company, was founded in 1996 with headquarters in Andover.  The company still exists today and was acquired by Time Warner Cable back in 2011, which later merged with Charter Communications.

Mission:  To provide customers with 24X7 support required by online businesses and proactively monitored applications fine-tuned to ensure top performance.

Today's Translation:  Amazon Web Services

Photo Credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine

NaviSite, a CMGi operating company, was founded in 1996 with headquarters in Andover.  The company still exists today and was acquired by Time Warner Cable back in 2011, which later merged with Charter Communications.

Mission:  To provide customers with 24X7 support required by online businesses and proactively monitored applications fine-tuned to ensure top performance.

Today's Translation:  Amazon Web Services

Photo Credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine

Lycos, a CMGi @Ventures investment, was established in 1995.  Its headquarters were based in Waltham.

Mission:  To become the most visited online destination in the world, and an admired business, by winning people's time with the best interactive products and a customer focus that is second to none.

Today's Translation:  Web portals were a big thing back in the dot-com era and Lycos was one of the biggest.  The company went on to be the fastest IPO in NASDAQ history.  

Side note - You can read more about the background story of Lycos by reading our Investor Profile on Bob Davis, who was CEO at Lycos and is currently a General Partner at Highland Capital Partners.

Photo credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine

Lycos, a CMGi @Ventures investment, was established in 1995.  Its headquarters were based in Waltham.

Mission:  To become the most visited online destination in the world, and an admired business, by winning people's time with the best interactive products and a customer focus that is second to none.

Today's Translation:  Web portals were a big thing back in the dot-com era and Lycos was one of the biggest.  The company went on to be the fastest IPO in NASDAQ history.  

Side note - You can read more about the background story of Lycos by reading our Investor Profile on Bob Davis, who was CEO at Lycos and is currently a General Partner at Highland Capital Partners.

Photo credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine

Furniture.com, a CMGi @Ventures investment, was established in 1998.  The company's headquarters were based in Framingham.

Mission: To revolutionize the home furnishing and decorating experience by offering a comprehensive, personalized and service-oriented solution for consumers.

Today's Translation:  Wayfair.  

Side note - the domain Furniture.com is owned and operated by Blueport Commerce in Boston.

Photo Credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine

Furniture.com, a CMGi @Ventures investment, was established in 1998.  The company's headquarters were based in Framingham.

Mission: To revolutionize the home furnishing and decorating experience by offering a comprehensive, personalized and service-oriented solution for consumers.

Today's Translation:  Wayfair.  

Side note - the domain Furniture.com is owned and operated by Blueport Commerce in Boston.

Photo Credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine

ThingWorld, a CMGi @Ventures Investment, was established in 1996.  The company's headquarters were based in Watertown.

Mission:  Digital Entertainment Solutions for Leading Brands.  ThingWorld.com develops world-class multimedia technologies that expand online businesses by enabling sports, entertainment and media companies to control, leverage and distribute their digital media assets .

Today's Translation: Growth hacking. ThingWorld.com was an early version of leveraging viral marketing techniques to build awareness for content or products online.

Photo credit: Internet Archive Wayback Machine

ThingWorld, a CMGi @Ventures Investment, was established in 1996.  The company's headquarters were based in Watertown.

Mission:  Digital Entertainment Solutions for Leading Brands.  ThingWorld.com develops world-class multimedia technologies that expand online businesses by enabling sports, entertainment and media companies to control, leverage and distribute their digital media assets .

Today's Translation: Growth hacking. ThingWorld.com was an early version of leveraging viral marketing techniques to build awareness for content or products online.

Photo credit: Internet Archive Wayback Machine

TVisions, a CMGi @Ventures investment, was established in 1994.  Its headquarters were based in Watertown.

Mission:  Tvisions is a premium Internet professional services firm that plans, designs, and implements strategic e-business solutions for clients seeking market leadership. Tvisions provides thought leadership and technological innovation to help transform business.

Today's Translation: Tvisions eventually rebranded to Molecular and was acquired by Isobar in 2005.  

Side note - the company's founder & CEO was Ralph Folz, who is now the CEO at WordStream.

Photo credit: Internet Archive Wayback Machine

TVisions, a CMGi @Ventures investment, was established in 1994.  Its headquarters were based in Watertown.

Mission:  Tvisions is a premium Internet professional services firm that plans, designs, and implements strategic e-business solutions for clients seeking market leadership. Tvisions provides thought leadership and technological innovation to help transform business.

Today's Translation: Tvisions eventually rebranded to Molecular and was acquired by Isobar in 2005.  

Side note - the company's founder & CEO was Ralph Folz, who is now the CEO at WordStream.

Photo credit: Internet Archive Wayback Machine

OneCore, a CMGi @Ventures investment, was established in 1998.  Its headquarters were based in Bedford, MA.

Mission:  OneCore.com is a unique online financial service, custom-built for small businesses & entrepreneurs, to help them manage their finances quickly & efficiently.

Today's Translation: Freshbooks and Gusto.

Photo credit: Internet Archive Wayback Machine

OneCore

OneCore, a CMGi @Ventures investment, was established in 1998.  Its headquarters were based in Bedford, MA.

Mission:  OneCore.com is a unique online financial service, custom-built for small businesses & entrepreneurs, to help them manage their finances quickly & efficiently.

Today's Translation: Freshbooks and Gusto.

Photo credit: Internet Archive Wayback Machine

MyWay.com, a CMGI operating company, was established in 1996.  The company's headquarters was in Andover.

Mission:  MyWay enables our business partners worldwide to deliver content and applications to their customers anytime, anywhere on any device, in a compelling relevant, distinctly local, private-label, personalizable and customizable fashion.

Today's Translation:  MyWay, was originally Planet Direct, which sold portal services to smaller internet service providers.  They also had a strategy to make it a standalone consumer web portal.  I'm not sure there is a current white label portal company these days.

Photo Credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine

MyWay.com, a CMGI operating company, was established in 1996.  The company's headquarters was in Andover.

Mission:  MyWay enables our business partners worldwide to deliver content and applications to their customers anytime, anywhere on any device, in a compelling relevant, distinctly local, private-label, personalizable and customizable fashion.

Today's Translation:  MyWay, was originally Planet Direct, which sold portal services to smaller internet service providers.  They also had a strategy to make it a standalone consumer web portal.  I'm not sure there is a current white label portal company these days.

Photo Credit:  Internet Archive Wayback Machine