#227: AOL – You’ve Got Mail cover art

#227: AOL – You’ve Got Mail

#227: AOL – You’ve Got Mail

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Did you know that at it's peak America On Line was responsible for 50% of all Compact Disc production in America? Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Simple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [No Bull RV Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast. Dave Young here alongside Stephen Semple. And Stephen, you've got mail. Stephen Semple: That's right. Dave Young: You've got mail. You've got mail. Stephen Semple: Could you imagine? Could you imagine if it's still happened that way? You got mail. You got, you got, you got mail. Dave Young: It'd be all day long. I can remember in those early days when getting an email was like, oh, shit, I got an email. Or, somebody sent me an email, or they replied to one of mine. Oh my gosh. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: So AOL, that's the... There was a time. Stephen Semple: America Online. Dave Young: There was a time they'd send out their what? CD-ROMs. Stephen Semple: Yep. Dave Young: You couldn't reach into the seat back pocket of a car without finding one. Stephen Semple: And we're going to explore that whole marketing campaign. But here's the crazy thing- Dave Young: [inaudible 00:02:37] cereal. Stephen Semple: All of it. Yeah. At its peak, one half of CD production in the United States was dedicated to America Online. Dave Young: Oh my God. Stephen Semple: Isn't that crazy? Dave Young: Say it isn't so. Stephen Semple: I can't. AOL was founded by Steve Case, William Von, Jim Kimsey and Marc Seriff in 1983 in Brooklyn. And as we know, it went on to become one of the biggest names in the internet. And in January 11th, 2001, it merged with Time Warner being one of the largest corporate mergers at the time, which actually it turned out was a disaster, but we're not going to talk about that. But back in the early days in 1983, let's put it in perspective, because sometimes it's really hard to think about these technological evolutions, but in 1983, Sony released the first consumer camcorder CD-ROMs were developed. And the first cell phone, remember the Motorola one that looked like it was a World War II walkie-talkie? Dave Young: Well, before that were bag phones. My first one was a bag phone. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: The cell phone that you carried around with a giant battery in a bag. Stephen Semple: Exactly. Yeah. So that's like 1983. And AOL did not start as AOL. It started as a company called Control Video Corporation, CVC, founded by Bill Von Meister. And here's what they created. They created this thing called Gamelink, and basically it's a modem that plugs into the Atari 2600 game module, and they would sell the modem for 50 bucks, and it was a $15 setup fee, and you could download games for a dollar over the phone. That was the idea. This whole idea of the internet did not exist. It was this idea. Now, Steve Case, who becomes the main character in our story, worked for Bill and less than a year later, 1984, CVC is struggling because the video game boom has gone bust. Atari cancels the 2600 because only 3,000 units are sold. So the business is a bit of a tough space. Dave Young: This is a couple of decades almost before the boom, the bust? Stephen Semple: Yes. Oh, yeah. Dave Young: The bursting of the .com bubble. Stephen Semple: But this is the video game business goes through this a little bit, softening. The board sidelines, Von Meister and parachutes in Jim Kimsey, who's a former military guy,
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