Buce Marjorie C

BSIM – OOA

SYSANAL

Case study 15

Paul Graham

Cofounder Via web

Paul graham together with his friend Robert Moris started Via Web in 1995. Via web is design to make software for building online stores.

Before starting up via web they were starting another company, which is called Artix in which they were putting an art gallery online, but the problem is the people there don’t want it to be online. So they came to write new software that fitted to the galleries. Everyone wanted an online store.

In starting the Via Web, Paul and his friend Robert was the one who fund their company and they were working at Robert’s apartment. They were writing prototype and then wrote the first version.

Via Web was worked over the web. It is where its name came from and it is web-based application. But it was just software then which is used and then uploads to a server.

X Windows was the programmed used by the most hackers where it could be using a program, which is running using a remote machine. So they thought that a web application was use as browsers as an xterm. Then he got an idea of making software where it runs as a server.

They were building an online store using a software and work on it on a demo. It was October or November when he went down to New York and did the demo for some investors and from that they got a $ 100,000. Their first costumer was the technical bookstores.

One of the things that they got wrong is when people doesn’t want web. It was 95’ 96 and almost a lot of people. Merchants are the one who wanted their software and for theses users the web was huge because it allowed them to have a catalog companies.

E-commerce was become very useful to them because it used as a graphic design. I Cat was their biggest competitor; it is a web based version company. A company called them and wanted to buy them.

Via web was one of the first companies where creating a level of playing field. Small business could make an online store. Via web store was the most popular E-commerce.

Things that I Learned

            From this start up I learned that even though you’re not a founder you could help them to be successful by giving ideas. Openness to ideas is one thing I’ve learned.  I also learn that you need to be a good programmer in order to come up to a good product.