Internet guru Marc Andreessen created a buzz last September
when he abruptly quit his post as America Online Inc.’s (AOL) chief
technology officer, calling his former playground a “walled
city” in terms of its technological growth potential.
He ignited an even bigger spark when he announced the following
month that he was forming a company called Loudcloud Inc., leaving
the particulars about the new firm shrouded in secrecy. This month,
Andreessen and an all-star team burst on to the scene with a bang,
announcing a number of deals with players such as Hewlett-Packard
Co. and Oracle Corp.
Loudcloud was formed to unburden e-commerce firms of running Net
infrastructures so they can go handle their core strengths in the
business-to-business and business-to-consumer sectors. And people
are listening: the start-up tapped $68 million in financing this
February from Benchmark Capital and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.
The new company markets “pay-as-you-go” Web-based business
services, with varying price structures based on the needs of each
client. Dubbed Smart Cloud, the service suite offers hardware,
software and hosting capabilities. Essentially, a company needs
only to develop a Web site and stand back. When contracted,
Loudcloud rolls sites out rapidly.
Andreessen believes as the industry grows, building and running
sites is becoming increasingly difficult.
“Loudcloud is applying world-class software and operations
expertise to solve this problem,” he said in a statement.
Loudcloud receives payment in the form of a monthly recurring
charge, which is based on a client’s site traffic. The firm has
already signed on a batch of clients this month, with more to
follow. Loudcloud’s beta customers are HomeGain.com, Wish.com,
Acteva, DreamLot, SkillsVillage, CFOWeb and Catapulse.
Andreessen co-founded Loudcloud with former AOL colleagues Tim
Howes and In Sik Rhee, who helmed e-commerce projects at the ISP.
Former Netscape Vice President Ben Horowitz is chief executive
officer while Andreessen has taken the role of chairman.
The $68 million investment from the investment firms will help
Loudcloud finance its product deals with H-P (HP) and Oracle
(ORCL). H-P will provide Intel-based and Linux servers. Oracle will
lend its database technology.
Related Story:
CNET News.com:
HP partners with start-up Loudcloud (Feb 08, 2000)