September 7, 2000

Ten Fast Facts: Ingeniux.com

Ingeniux.com WHO: A privately held software company founded last year by Jim Edmunds, Alan Westenbroek and Evan Wallace. WHAT: Provides XML publishing tools to automatically reformat Web content for multiple sites and devices. WHERE: Lake Union area in Seattle.

Comment: "Web publishers are going to want the power and freedom to build [a page] the way it should look," explains Edmunds, president. That's where XML comes in. As the successor to HTML, the original programming language for the Web, XML provides greater flexibility for customizing the presentation of Web content, says Edmunds.

Fast Fact #2: Ingeniux is tripling its work force.

Comment: The company currently employs 14 people. "We're a little different from the typical software company," says Edmunds. "The average age [of employees] is the late 30s. They have mature work ethics. They come in early, work hard and leave at a decent hour." And fewer of them wear nose rings.

Fast Fact #3: Ingeniux will open a sales office in London or Amsterdam this month.

Comment: Offices in the Midwest, East Coast and Japan will follow. About one-third of the new employees will focus on sales and marketing, says Edmunds. "We need to get above the radar and build a marketing a buzz about the product," he says.

Fast Fact #4: All three founders previously worked at MSNBC.

Comment: That's where they first experienced the pain of trying to reformat content for different Web sites and tailor it for different devices. After all three took other jobs, Edmunds reunited the trio to create a cure for their old headache based on XML. Wallace is vice president for development and Westenbroek is vice president of technology. Edmunds says Westenbroek "is a visionary. He has the unique talent to think three to five years ahead." In fact, Westenbroek was touting XML while still at MSNBC, says Edmunds, but "nobody would listen to him."

Fast Fact #5: X marks the product.

Comment: The company's XPower Application Suite consists of two distinct but related components. XPower Publisher provides tools to create Web content -- articles, charts, directories -- using the XML language. The XPower Server automatically customizes that content. "We provide customers with the ability to create content once and then dynamically present it to many different audiences on many different devices in the format best suited to each," says Edmunds He calls this "dynamic branding" and says Ingeniux is out in front. "Nobody else seems to be focused on this particular aspect."

Fast Fact #6: Dynamic branding drives down content costs.

Comment: That's because it enables a content distributor to share a single set of content with multiple Web sites in formats appropriate to each Web site. XPower Server does all the heavy lifting. Guided by preprogrammed rules, it automatically changes logos, typefaces, navigation tools and other variables according to its audience. That way, Web sites can share the cost of content production yet still provide material that appears unique to their site.

Fast Fact #7: The rising wireless tide offers additional opportunity.

Comment: Handheld devices have much smaller screens than PCs. Plus users generally aren't surfing the Web for in-depth stories. They want basic information such as news headlines or movie times. XPower Server distinguishes between PCs and other devices. If someone is logging on from a handheld, it automatically edits lengthy stories, eliminates screen-hogging graphics and presents the information in a concise format.

Fast Fact #8: Ingeniux is targeting large editorial sites and content distributors.

Comment: For instance, Onvia.com, a small-business Web site, is using XPower to both create its News and Tools features and share them with other sites. Chrome Data, which supplies auto price information over the Internet, is using XPower to reformat its content for wireless devices. That way, says Edmunds, "You can turn the phone over to a salesman and say, 'How about this price?'"

Fast Fact #9: Edmunds recently attended the Seybold Conference in the Bay Area.

Comments: Founded by a former industry analyst, the trade show drew representatives from all corners of the Internet publishing scene. Ingeniux was making its first appearance. "It was great," says Edmunds. "We've got a couple of potentially very big deals in the works."

Fast Fact #10: Edmunds is leaving the door open to all exit strategies.

Comment: "My job is to build value for shareholders," says Edmunds. "This is not a quick or an easy play." Until now, revenues have funded growth. However, the company is in the midst of raising $4 to $5 million to fund more aggressive expansion.

Previous columns:

• Ten Fast Facts: DocuTouch, 08-31-2000
• Ten Fast Facts: TotalLivingChoices, 08-24-2000
• Bogart Golf, 08-17-2000
• eBallot.net, 08-10-2000
• Echospace Inc., 08-03-2000
• ClassMates.com, 07-20-2000
• Photozone.com, 07-13-2000
• CyberSafe, 07-06-2000