|
Home
> Follow your bliss | | | | | |
The MyPrimeTime story starts with three little words:
"Follow your
bliss."
That advice was given by renowned author and comparative religion
professor Joseph Campbell in a PBS documentary that I first saw in April 1994. I
was spellbound. And soon my pal Helen Whelan and I
were sharing ideas about how to bring Campbell's message to a mass audience.
For years, we kicked around the idea of creating a
media company based on empowering people. We made a few false starts, but we
kept moving forward; I produced a TV pilot, focusing on transformational
moments in people's lives. We spent much of our summer vacations working on
our ideas. But it wasn't until the explosion of the Internet that we saw a
way to bring together the broadcast, online and business pieces that would
make such a venture commercially viable.
Starting this past winter, Helen quietly but doggedly convinced Craig and me
that building a multi-media company that empowers  proactive
adults was a phenomenal idea. Lou Dobbs (our boss at CNN) agreed. Craig
(who tripled the traffic at CNNfn.com) came up with a strategic roadmap. Don
Currin of Arthur Andersen (and an angel investor) focused us on baby
boomers. And before any of us could say, "We're heading for the coast," we
had funding from venture capital firm Hummer Winblad.
With little more than an outline for a business, and a conviction that
this could be a big winner, Craig and Helen lined up one of the best names
in venture capital. Hummer Winblad looks at over 3000 business plans a
year and funds fewer than ten!
 While Dobbs crossed town to launch his space
site, Craig and Helen landed in San Francisco on July 4, 1999. Talk about
independence! I followed on July 12, 1999. We camped out at Hummer
Winblad and started hiring. As of Nov. 1, 1999, we have 50 co-owners, a TV
partnership with PBS' Nightly Business Report
, a major sponsorship with Fidelity Investments and a second round of
financing on the way. We're more convinced than ever that our timing
couldn't be better, that 80 million people age 35-54 have more opportunity
than limitation and that myprimetime.com can be their home on the World Wide
Web. And that by following our bliss, we can help you follow yours.
Donald Van de Mark
Cofounder, VP and Editorial Director
Helen Whelan
Cofounder, President
Craig Forman
Cofounder, CEO
| |
| |
| | | | | Copyright © 1999-2001 MyPrimeTime, All Rights Reserved. | | MyPrimeTime and the other MyPrimeTime products on this site are trademarks of MyPrimeTime, Inc. The names of actual companies and their products mentioned on this site may be the trademarks of their respective owners. |
|
|
