THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408120543
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MITCHELL MILLER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: VIENNA, VA. LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
He's young and savvy and heads America Online Inc., the nation's fastest-growing on-line computer service.
Stephen M. Case, 35, president and chief executive officer of the hot high-tech company based here, has seen subscribers soar from 300,000 last year to more than 900,000. He expects to have 1 million by the end of the summer.
Case also recently received a regional award for Entrepreneur of the Year sponsored by Inc. magazine.
After nearly a decade of hard work, Case's company and career are hitting stride. But despite all the recent success, Case is not satisfied.
``We know this is a marathon. We're trying to be winners over the long run, not just winners tomorrow,'' he said. ``We're not spending any time patting ourselves on the back based on our recent growth.''
Case and the company's 500 employees are working to put Americans on the information highway and develop interesting places for computer users to visit along the way. Sights can include everything from the latest news headlines to a chatting by computer with a celebrity.
Case, who helped found the company in 1985, has worked to forge agreements with major media and computer players.
In July, America Online and Capital Cities/ABC Inc. announced an agreement to provide interactive news, entertainment and information services.
In June, America Online and The New York Times Co. unveiled a service that includes features and news. A few days before that announcement, MTV: Music Television said it would provide America Online subscribers with programming information and updates on Lollapalooza, an alternative rock tour.
America Online over the years has established alliances with dozens of other companies and networks, including Time Warner, NBC, CNN, IBM and Apple Computer Inc.
Like its larger competitors, CompuServe and Prodigy, America Online provides a wide array of services to computer users. But analysts say America Online - now the nation's third-largest on-line service - is poised to lead the industry because of its user-friendly approach.
``Steve realizes you can't just have a pipeline; you've got to have a pipeline with information,'' said Kenneth T. Berents, director of research with Wheat First Butcher Singer in Richmond. ``He's thinking way ahead of others.''
In addition to electronic mail, conferencing, software and computing support, America Online provides a menu that puts news, travel, shopping and personal finance information at users' fingertips.
Berents said the company will keep growing as it establishes itself as a ``brand name'' in on-line services.
In its effort to broaden access, Case pointed to his company's recent implementation of the Internet Center, which opens up a vast information network that until a few years ago was largely the domain of academics, government officials and computer specialists.
CASE WASN'T A COMPUTER GENIUS when he entered the business. He said he experienced the same frustrations other casual users do when he first began working with computers in the early 1980s.
His expertise was in marketing. He founded America Online after working for PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble.
While America Online's early growth was slow, Case said he had faith it would be successful.
He liked the idea of creating a business that could help define a market rather than build on one that already existed, he said. ``I find this challenging because no one knows exactly how it will develop,'' he said.
The development of on-line services is like the emergence of TV networks in the 1940s and 1950s, he said. And he wants to do nothing less than help create a new medium.
``It's a new frontier, the rules haven't been written. And you have an opportunity to really help define the future,'' he said.
Case tends to lead by example, not words, said Jean Villanueva, vice president of corporate communications, who has worked with Case for about six years.
``He's president of the company and yet he's probably the most active user of America Online,'' Villanueva said.
Case said the company must remain flexible in a ``chaotic, ever-changing business.'' He also said he tries not to pay too much attention to media coverage of the company's ups and downs on Wall Street, where its stock has risen as high as $92 a share and dropped to as low as $43 in the past year.
On July 29, billionaire investor Paul Allen sold half of his stake in America Online. Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, reduced his stake from 18 percent to 9.7 percent with the sale of 733,000 shares.
A spokeswoman for Allen's investment company, Vulcan Ventures, said Allen wanted to realize profits he's made from investing in America Online. The sale caused some other investors to sell their stock.
While its stock has soared and dipped, Case isn't worried about the short run.
Although he's young, the straight-talking corporate leader pointed out he's a veteran of the business. He hopes to set the standard for on-line services in years to come.
``The game's just begun,'' he said. ``The way I look at it is, we have nearly 1 million subscribers and there's 95 million households. So there's 94 million to go.'' by CNB