Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Note
A number of software entrepreneurs are philanthropists and donate
funds, corporate support, and energy to worthy charities. The Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation is perhaps the largest charitable
organization started by a software entrepreneur. The software in-
dustry has become one of the most significant sources of funds for
nonprofit charitable organizations. This fact is of both social and
historical importance.
Like other web sales and services organizations, eBay is in the spotlight for not
charging taxes in locations where it does not have a physical presence. Many state
governments are trying to get around this limitation.
A final interesting aspect of eBay is that its new corporate office in San Jose
was designed to be environmentally friendly. Solar panels on the roof provide al-
most 20% of the power to run computers and office equipment in the building.
The lighting system also detects and responds to ambient light. Instead of constant
light output, the building adjusts brightness based on outside light.
eBay has become a diverse company with many business partners and many
forms of business. It is no doubt a key company for business school case studies.
eBay also demonstrates the power of computers, software, and the web to forge
new kinds of remote businesses out of the traditions of older businesses such as
auction houses.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is an interesting niche company that is based on the existence of the
World Wide Web and the fact that web addresses need to be unique.
The company was founded in 1997 in Phoenix, Arizona, by an entrepreneur
named Bob Parsons. The original name at founding was Jomax Technologies.
Here, too, name changes are very common among software startups. It was origin-
ally a private company that almost had an IPO in 2006 but decided not to. In 2011,
about 65% of the company was sold to a group of venture capitalists for a ballpark
figure of around $2.25 billion.
Bob Parsons had already been a successful entrepreneur with an earlier com-
pany called Parsons Technology, which he had sold to Intuit, and then retired.
GoDaddy was created when he left retirement to become an entrepreneur for the
second time. In an industry populated with young entrepreneurs such as Steve
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