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Date:         Wed, 9 May 2007 19:24:42 -0400
Reply-To:     Derek Drew <derekdrew@DEREKMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Derek Drew <derekdrew@DEREKMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Derek Drew's Syncro Yields $33 Million
Comments: To: Syncro@yahoogroups.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed

One of the many uses that I have had for my syncro was to drive it up into the mountains where I could have private time to invent things on my computer. When I started, I did not know *what* I was going to invent; I just knew that the syncro offered the isolation I needed for patience and creative thinking. And I also knew that I needed to earn a living somehow, and that to help me solve this problem, I would use only my mind, my computer, a fist full of credit card credit lines, and my syncro camper.

The product of that work was the business plan and prototype for www.consumersearch.com. I spent about three years in the camper doing this work. Typically, I would park up roads that I knew nobody else in their right mind would try to navigate because only a syncro with a winch could get up them, and where the creative part of me felt safe and secure enough from sneers and interruptions to function.

While in the woods, I also taught myself public speaking so that I could communicate my ideas to others and raise money. I did this by booming out speeches to empty woods with printouts of powerpoint slides on the forest floor for me to speak to. I was too embarrassed to give these speeches anywhere else, where someone could hear the grandiose plans that I had, which seemed near delusional at the time going by what was actually in my checking account.

In 2000 and 2001, I gave these forest floor presentations to 100 investors and after being turned down about 70 times by millionaires and venture capitalists, I succeeded in raising $1.25 million from a small group of investors. I used that money to launch consumersearch.com. I have been building it since that time while trying to read as many list mails as I could, and while publishing the occasional vanagon and syncro article to the lists (see some of these linked to below).

Many of you list members know that I have been distracted lately and "busy."

I have been busy with the sale of my company.

This week, I sold my business to the New York Times Company / About.com for $33 million. You can see articles about the sale here:

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=22209&hed=NY+Times+Goes+Shopping

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/technology/07about.html?ex=1336190400&en=469aa235ab908be2&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Meanwhile, in the middle of negotiating my company's sale, I happened to catch wind of and acquire $150,000 of syncro specific drivetrain and transmission-related parts headed for a landfill in Europe, and I made a production run of another 100 of CV-900 wheels for all the list members who have been emailing me and asking for them.

In the coming weeks (for the wheels) and starting in the fall (for the syncro specific drivetrain and transmission parts) I hope to catalog and price these parts, and then let them out into the community. I understand that supplies of syncro-specific parts will begin going NLA at the dealers soon. I purchased these parts for us. Unfortunately, I cannot take any email requests about them before the fall because I have other priority issues to handle. In fact, if you don't hear much about what parts are available until next Thanksgiving, don't be surprised.

After all of this is over, I hope to get back to spending more of my time in syncro-land.

Red Herring Article

NY Times Goes Shopping

Seeking growth, media firm buys ConsumerSearch.com. May 7, 2007

By Ken Schachter

Just weeks after facing down a shareholder uprising, The New York Times went shopping, snapping up 7-year-old ConsumerSearch.com for $33 million on Monday.

ConsumerSearch, which rates products ranging from leaf blowers to MP3 players by distilling published product reviews, will be incorporated into the Times’ About.com unit.

The move puts About.com into competition with a host of online product review services, including shopping search engines like E.W. Scripps’ Shopzilla, where consumers can render their opinions; Epinions, a unit of eBay that posts consumer reviews; and specialty publications like CNET, whose reviewers rate the latest cell phones and printers.

The deal—About.com’s third in the past eight months—represents a vindication for the minimalist approach of ConsumerSearch.com, which outlasted well-financed rivals like Productopia. While Productopia burned through $22 million in venture capital, ConsumerSearch raised only $1.25 million in an angel/venture round. In October 2000, ConsumerSearch bought the assets of Productopia.

“We built the business so it could be matched to the size of the market opportunity,” co-founder and Chief Executive Derek Drew said of his six-person company. “We didn’t hire a director of human resources. We didn’t do things a lot of competitors around us were doing.”

Scott Meyer, About.com chief executive, said the company hopes to extend the brand of ConsumerSearch. “By acquiring them, we could accelerate their growth,” he said.

ConsumerSearch has been edging toward a buy-out since February, when Mr. Drew decided that his talent for developing product reviewers was being crimped by his time spent looking at spreadsheets and fielding calls from venture capitalists. He went to Bank of America Securities to arrange an auction for the company, closing the deal with About.com on Friday.

________________________________________________________ Derek Drew Washington, DC derekdrew@derekmail.com (NEW 4/2006) Phone 202-966-7907 (derekdrew@rcn.com is old and should be changed to the above) Email me for viscous coupling s (Cell 703-408-1532) '90 Syncro Westfalia... ...seen off-road at http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/Syncro_Madness_Area.htm ...seen with 30.5" tall tires at http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/images/dereks245_75_16.jpg Note: most valuable Vanagon sites on the planet (for owners) are: http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?S1=vanagon http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro http://www.vanagon.com http://www.syncro.org Many of my Syncro list postings consolidated http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/messagesearch?query=212-580-6486 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/messagesearch?query=202-966-7907 My refrigerator article: http://www.vanagon.com/info/articles/Refrigerator/Reefer_Madness.htm All About 16" Wheels And The CV-900.htm http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/All_About_16-Wheels_And_The_CV_900.htm All About Viscous Couplings http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/viscous_couplings_vanagon_syncro.htm Grab rates vs rpm of VCs http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/17172 Notes on off-roading and decouplers http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/24615 How To Live With Heavy List Volume--Mail Filters http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7403 My tutorial on how to strengthen your skid plates for off-road driving http://www.syncro.photosite.com/ and after clicking on that click on the image that says Skid Plates / Reinforcements and work your way through the 10 photos. BE SURE to notice the text that is below some of the pictures, as it clarifies what the point of some of the pictures is. My article that shows how to deal with insurance companies: http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/auto-insurance-madness.html To read some material about how to add a front differential lock to your syncro http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/13105 To view Wolfgang's incredibly informative wheel article http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/fitbigtiresonvanagon.htm To view Tim Smith's incredibly useful gearing calculator http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/syncrotireandgearratios.xls To view two articles about how to think about improving your gears at transmission rebuild time http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7207 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7221 To view an overview article about choices in larger sized tires see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/11535 To view some 16" Trailing Arms that enable much larger tires see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syncrolist/files/Wheels%2C%20Tires%20%26%20Gearing/Wheel%20%26%20Tire%20Photos/16_Inch_Trailing_Arm.jpg My article about belt protectors and CV joint protectors http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/6112 SYNCRO OWNERS WHO DRIVE OFF THE ROAD: You only get to change your ring and pinions once every 10 years because that's how long the average syncro transmission goes before its next rebuild. If you want bigger tires and more ground clearance start planning your higher number ring and pinion sets right now so you can take advantage of your next trans rebuild. Vanagon Vendors For Parts To Consider At Problem Time www.van-cafe.com (parts and repairs too)


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