History

From The Frat House To The Penthouse

Bridgevine was initially founded as Broadband National in 2003 by AJ Koontz and Mark Weibel, lifelong friends, with the intent of changing the online marketing approach to high speed internet. AJ’s zest and passion, combined with Mark’s even-keeled demeanor and online marketing skills were a potent combination. The two established business in a house owned by AJs family in the historic downtown district of Vero Beach, FL. Historic in many aspects including the obvious tilt to the house, and the 2nd floor that acted as a bed and breakfast to a few of the early employees which resulted in the adoption of the name “The Frat House”. The business premise or foundation of the business idea was the fact that 76% of the people search for high speed internet actually first searched online – makes sense now! So the mission was to become the leading reseller broadband services to medium and large size businesses. In short order Speakeasy, ITCDeltaCom, XO Communications, NuVox and Covad signed on as some of the first service providers and the business was on its way. The technology and much of its marketing efforts were achieved by outsourcing to Terence Channon and Teresa Devine, both of whom are now long standing employees of Bridgevine.

The company saw early success at lead generation. In fact, the company would ring a bell each time a customer requested information. The bell became quite annoying as the company quickly started to accumulate online traffic, and had to be retired. In fact the traffic grew quickly for the small business customers, and also brought in many residential customers requiring broadband. With an overwhelming number of requests, and a simple software package AJ and Mark were ready for a business plan that would enable them to grow the young company.

They decided to seek help developing a business plan and turned to Vinny Olmstead who was married to a high school classmate (Jill) and good friends with Mark’s brother Jeff). Vinny had vast experience with large companies in developing business plans, M & A strategy, and more. Vinny was not sure he knew what he was getting himself into, but one of AJs passionate speeches convinced him to help write a business plan in his spare time. Vinny quickly realized that in addition to the business plan, a new software platform would be required. Over the ensuing six months the business accelerated, especially with the addition of Comcast, Time Warner, and ATT as key providers. The company was able to secure $1.2m in financing from a group of accomplished investors including Ray Oglethorpe, Charlie Dill, and Pat Welsh. At this point Vinny was ready to commit full time – again, over a passionate speech from AJ at a local restaurant.

By the end July 2003, it was time to say goodbye to the old “Frat House” and the company moved into a larger, more “modern” facility. The new office, originally a storefront adjacent to a paint store, was needed for the additional employees that were coming onboard at a rapid pace. The location was off a major intersection, although not in the best part of town. The location spurred the joke that the company moved from the “Frat House” to the “Crack House”…..more to come on the ascension to the Penthouse.

It was at this time early in 2004 that the company launched it’s proprietary software platform called IBIS (Internet Broadband Information System). This revolutionary platform enabled businesses and consumers to compare broadband solutions offered by an expanding group of regional and national providers through deep integrations with its marquee providers. It was also during this time that Vinny Olmstead was named President and CEO and the company secured another $1.35 million of financing. The company was hitting on all cylinders and everything seemed to be going their way, but Mother Nature had a surprise in mind. On September 5th 2004 a category 2 hurricane named Francis slammed into Florida’s Treasure Coast. A giant storm 400 miles across that trudged through nearly the entire state over a three day period, bringing high winds and torrential rains. If that weren’t bad enough twenty days later Vero Beach took another direct hit. This time from a stronger category 3 hurricane named Jeanne with top sustained wind speeds of over 120 mph.

It was too much for the store front office to handle. The roof gave way and the office was a total loss. In fact insured losses in the state of Florida exceeded more than 14 billion dollars – thank goodness that the technology was outsourced to Savvis. So with the office, computers, files and furniture completely destroyed along with employees scattered and working from disparate locations no one would have blamed the three for shutting the company down. But with great determination, grit and a lot of hard work (along with a great deal of prodding by Patrick Toole, one of the early employees imported from AOL) new office space was secured in October. The company was able to take the only space in town that was not hampered by the hurricanes – the top floor of the tallest building in Vero with a grand view of the Indian River Lagoon. In fact, the company had to lease three times the space it needed, and filled the floor with several temporary subleases that put the costs in line with the previous lease. The company was back on track and everyone was looking forward to a new and less stormy year.

It was in June of 2005 that sales first topped 5,000 orders per month. October heralded the addition of Verizon to an ever-growing list of national providers. In August Office Depot choose Broadband National’s IBIS technology for their 936 Super Stores Nationwide. And in December orders surpassed 7,000 per month. 2005 also saw the seating of the first Board of Directors. The newly named members included Ray Ogelthorp, Pat Welsh, Michael Leitner and Charlie Dill. In December of this same year Bridgevine raised $3.2 million dollars in Venture Capital from Bear Sterns/Constellation Ventures.

2006 was a year that can only be described as explosive. In 2 short years the company’s revenue grew from $488,000 to over $11.5 million, a growth rate of 2,201.4%. Much of this was due to a new marketing strategy called “Bundled Services”. Consumers were able to combine their cable, phone and Internet services with one provider. It was in September 2006 that an office in Atlanta was established headed by Sr. VP of Corporate Development, Andrew Goldberg and VP of Software Prashant Gharpure. Much of the work on future versions of the IBIS platform would be developed by the talented employees in the Atlanta. In October of 2006 an agreement was reached with WildBlue and they were quickly added to the company’s stable of high-speed Internet providers.

2007 was a year of not only strong growth and accolades but a year of transformation as well. For the first time the company made the list of Inc. magazines 500 fastest growing private companies, ranking 57th overall. August saw Safeguard Scientifics Lead $9.7 million financing round for a stake in the Company. The proceeds would help expand into new vertical markets, continue development of its technology platform and pursue selective acquisitions. The company also completed a complex brand identity change. The name Broadband National Inc. was officially dropped in favor of Bridgevine Inc., a name that would accommodate the addition of future vertical markets such as entertainment, banking, insurance and financial services. Along with a new name came a new consumer facing website, the first to utilize the highly advanced IBIS 3.0 platform. 2007 also saw the departure of company co-founder AJ Koontz who chose to leave the company to pursue other interests, namely piloting his 36 Bertram around the islands of the Bahamas. The company stays in close touch, and often brings him back to energize the troops as he remains a great shareholder.

2008 was a year many American’s would like to forget. The housing bubble burst, banks failed, the stock market plummeted and the economy ushered in the worst recession since the great depression. But despite all of that Bridgevine continued to grow significantly. The growth can be explained by a compelling customer value proposition, marquee partnerships and the company’s proprietary marketing software platform. The addition of entertainment, financial, security and mover vertical markets also helped bolster sales. In February Bridgevine announced the appointment of Ted Leonsis, AOL Vice Chairman Emeritus, to their Board of Director’s. Greg Stanger a venture partner at Technology Crossover Ventures and past chief financial officer and director of Expedia joined Ted as a member of the board. In March of 2008 Bridgevine also successfully beefed up its management team with the addition of Rob Hamilton—previously taking eDiets.com public —as the new CFO. Awards continued to pile up as the company made the Inc500 list for the second consecutive year and the prestigious Deloitte Fast 500 with a rank of 57. The company also announced that Sears, Roebuck and Co. would utilize Bridgevine’s intelligent shopping engine to offer customers a broad range of Comcast services including; digital cable TV bundles, high definition TV (HDTV), high speed Internet and digital voice. The roster of marketing partners also grew with the introduction of Real Networks, Gamefly, Netflix, Blockbuster, D-Link, LifeLock, Protect America and eMusic to name just a few.

Bridgevine is looking forward to a prosperous 2009 with some tricks up its sleeve….stay tuned!