by Annette
21. May 2007
It's not news that Microsoft purchased aQuantive, a digital marketing and advertising firm, for an unprecedented $6 billion dollars. But what is less well-known are the humble beginnings of aQuantive. It's one of those inspiring stories that keeps entrepreuners hopes alive.
The founder of aQuantive, Nick Hanauer began the firm almost 10 years ago. His family owned Pacific Coast Feather - a pillow and comforter manufacturer. They were trying to come up with ways to drive more traffic to the company's website and came up with the idea of compensating people who referred others to their website. The concept was so successful Hanauer eventually spun it off into a advertising concern that, in addition to other things, helps clients track the effectiveness of their on-line advertising.
This story breaks a couple of myths about success in the web world. The first is that you have to be an on-line business straight out of the box. It points up the ability to package newly created IP and serve it up in an interesting way. The second myth is that you have to be a computer science, math or engineering mind to score big. While it's certain Hanauer and his team bought those resources along the way, the nexus of the idea came from old-fashioned ingenuity. Something everyone has the rights to.
