Firmage, Joe
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Wikipedia-Article "Joe Firmage"
Joe Firmage is a U.S. Internet entrepreneur. He is currently the CEO and founder of ManyOne Networks, and one of the founders of the Digital Universe Foundation.
Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, Firmage attended the University of Utah on a physics scholarship but only stayed through his sophomore year. In 1989, he started his first company, Serius, a database software company that grew out of a Macintosh program he had written for his mother's greeting card business. He sold Serius to Novell for $24 million in 1993 and became vice president of strategic planning for Novell's NetWare division. [1]
Firmage left Novell in 1995 to found USWeb together with Toby Corey and Sheldon Laube. Originally a Web design company, it grew to become a publicly traded Internet consulting firm. In quick succession, Firmage resigned as CEO in November 1998 to become chief strategist while the company merged with CKS, and then left entirely in January 1999. [2] Around the time of his departure, word began to circulate about his belief in extra-terrestrial intelligences, about which he wrote a book and spent $3 million to fund a promotional campaign. [3]
After leaving USWeb, Firmage's next project was known as IntendChange, launched together with USWeb co-founder Toby Corey, and also supported by the investment of an undisclosed amount from USWeb itself. IntendChange also went into the consulting business, this time as an advisor to new Internet businesses seeking venture capital. In exchange for its services, IntendChange would take a ten percent equity stake in the client, which an analyst described as "pretty significant". [4] The company did not plan to contribute any capital for these equity stakes, but Firmage and his partners indicated they might invest personal capital or help arrange funding with IntendChange's own venture capital partners. They also sought commitments from startups to set aside stock and dedicate it to charitable causes, saying they would donate half their equity in IntendChange to unspecified nonprofit agencies. [5]
In 2000, Firmage began working with Ann Druyan and her Cosmos Studios organization to raise $23 million for a concept known as "Project Voyager", which would develop a web portal focused on science-oriented entertainment. The venture said it would also work with the Planetary Society and the SETI@Home project. [6]