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The Story of a Pathological Entrepreneur
Jul 5th
By John M Willis The world might have easily missed the fact that William von Meister invented AOL had Steve Case not shown up for his memorial service on May 20, 1995. Family and friends were amused that day with eulogies describing von Meister’s voracious consumption of life, taking on fast cars, fine red wine, and only the best of the single malts. One of the eulogies described a dark side of von Meister’s drinking and his always-a-bridesmaid-never-a-bride luck in business. In one 10-year span, von Meister was involved in 9 startups and never stayed with one of them more than 2 years. One of von Meister’s close business associates said, “He was the most human of human beings I ever knew, and his flaws were never disguised.” Even the published obituaries written that week had no mention of von Meister’s involvement in AOL. In fact, until that point, von Meister’s larger-than-life caricature might have seemed like an abject failure. He died broke and left his family in debt with nothing to show for all his business startups except a single plaque at the famous Palm restaurant in Washington, DC, and that was only because he probably bought more vintage scotch there than anyone else. When Steve Case took his turn at the memorial lectern, he opened with, “Without Bill Von Meister, there would have been no America Online.” Most of the people in attendance, including his family, had no idea of this man’s importance on the history of America industry. And that was less than the half of it. Summary of Von Miester’s Creations/Involvements All von Miester’s friends and business associates would agree that he was a horrendous businessman and a pathological dreamer. After about a year with a company, he would become obsessed with his next great idea and leave. In the end, more often than not, he was removed from his creation with no historical acknowledgment of his involvement. Sometimes, however, history has a way of fixing things. With a little bit of research, one can easily find that William von Meister’s footprint on history includes no less than the inventions of AOL, Western Union’s Mailgram service, Cable & Wireless’s entry into the America market, Digital FM radio, and the first utility that allowed consumers access to on-line information (“The Source”). In 1979, when Isaac Asimov first saw von Meister’s “Source,” he pronounced, “This is the beginning of the Information Age.” Von Meister, through his creation of the Source and his creation of what eventually became AOL, might be considered the single most important influence on getting most Americans on the Internet. In Alex Klein’s book Stealing Time, Alan Peyser, a former CEO of Cable and Wireless and close friend of von Meister, is quoted as saying, “I see all these things that say Steve Case was the founder of AOL, but I know better.” Von Meister was the ultimate VC killer–you have to love him. One of his VC backers once said that he could raise money from the dead. Stealing Time includes a great story about how von Meister and his brother devised a plan for dealing with VC’s called “Dawn Patrol.” They would basically party their VC’s into submission. It all would start innocently enough with a morning meeting, then lunch at the Palm, and then an early dinner at von Miester’s luxurious house in Falls Church, Virgina. After dinner, the party would begin, and ,by the early hours of the next day, the drunk or hungover VC’s would beg to go home, at which point von Meister would start talking about going to his racquet club for tennis and cocktails. By then, the VC’s would say anything just to go home. In 1981, von Meister pitched an idea to Warner Brothers about allowing users to download digital music. Warner Brothers laughed him out of their office. He appears to have posthumously gotten the last laugh: 20 years later, AOL purchased Time Warner. Imagine what he would be thinking about if he were around today. Topics: aol, internet, vcfightclub | 7 Comments »
The Story of a Pathological Entrepreneur
7 Responses to “The Story of a Pathological Entrepreneur”
@PamelaMuldoon talking to Channel 12 News about our #TwinWest4g
Jun 22nd
Steven Ladin
Chief Executive Officer
Ladin Ventures, LLC â¢
Commercial Real Estate Advisors
P: 763-331-3010
F: 763-331-3014
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Twitter ID: @LadinVentures
www.LadinVentures.com
TV Crew Just Rolled Up To My office… #TwinWest4g
Jun 22nd
Steven Ladin
Chief Executive Officer
Ladin Ventures, LLC â¢
Commercial Real Estate Advisors
P: 763-331-3010
F: 763-331-3014
E: sladin@ladinventures.com
Twitter ID: @LadinVentures
www.LadinVentures.com
Breakfast w/ Business Owners #BWBO w/ @JasonSandquist Talking Twitter
Jun 22nd
Steven Ladin
Chief Executive Officer
Ladin Ventures, LLC â¢
Commercial Real Estate Advisor
P: 763-331-3010
F: 763-331-3014
E: sladin@ladinventures.com
Twitter ID: @LadinVentures
www.LadinVentures.com
Negotiation for success #twinWest4g
Jun 17th
Steven Ladin
Chief Executive Officer
Ladin Ventures, LLC â¢
Commercial Real Estate Advisors
P: 763-331-3010
F: 763-331-3014
E: sladin@ladinventures.com
Twitter ID: @LadinVentures
www.LadinVentures.com
Wax Bottles! Newest Edition to The Ladin Ventures Candy Bowl
Jun 15th
Steven Ladin
Chief Executive Officer
Ladin Ventures, LLC â¢
Commercial Real Estate Advisors
P: 763-331-3010
F: 763-331-3014
E: sladin@ladinventures.com
Twitter ID: @LadinVentures
www.LadinVentures.com
Today, Happiness Was Delivered! :) Thx @Zappos #DeliveringHappiness
Jun 9th
Steven Ladin
Chief Executive Officer
Ladin Ventures, LLC â¢
Commercial Real Estate Advisors
P: 763-331-3010
F: 763-331-3014
E: sladin@ladinventures.com
Twitter ID: @LadinVentures
www.LadinVentures.com
Defining Collaboration By Seth Godin: Organizing The Unorganized #TwinWest4G
Jun 6th
Organizing the unorganized
There may be no bigger opportunity online for bootstrappers than finding people who would benefit from being connected and then connecting them.
Not so they can waste time sending digital love notes back and forth, but so they (and you) can create value for others.
Build a network of experts and make it available for hire.
Build a network of researchers and generate information useful to others.
Build a network of leaders and represent them to advertisers, marketers or recruiters.
Getting people and organizations in sync is the project of our times.
COMDEX was the largest trade show in the world for years, and it generated millions in profits as well as billions in value to the attendees. What happens if you do that in the small? But more efficiently…
The Shabbos Elevator… Ask me why.
Jun 1st
Steven Ladin
Chief Executive Officer
Ladin Ventures, LLC â¢
Commercial Real Estate Advisors
P: 763-331-3010
F: 763-331-3014
E: sladin@ladinventures.com
Twitter ID: @LadinVentures
www.LadinVentures.com
Read, Listen, Share, Have Fun- Social Media Commandments
May 29th
4 Keys to Success with Social Media
To gain insight into how to use social media in your business, look to the successes of some of the entrepreneurs who use the medium best.
Hosting an Internet radio program over the past few years has allowed me to speak with some of the most successful social media communicators in the space. People like Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, Liz Strauss, and Brian Clark are synonymous with social media. They’ve each amassed huge followings on their blogs and on sites like Twitter. They are recognized experts in the social media community for their ability to connect with people on a personal level, even when they’re speaking to thousands of people at a time through social channels.
So if you’re looking to successfully leverage the power of social tools to reach people on behalf of your business and “move the crowd,” here are a few things successful people like those above have in common.
They read
One thing all the successful social media types I know do is read. In fact they are ravenous when it comes to reading, devouring up to 100 magazines a month. This includes national business publications, regional business magazines, industry trade journals, and specialty newsletters from professional organizations. Mixed in with the magazines are the handfuls of books they are reading. This typically means they are in the middle of four or five books, on an off subject with respect to their profession.
I won’t even bring up the online perusing of blogs, white papers, and e-books they also take in. They do this because of their passion to know as much as they can about their chosen area of expertise, not necessarily just to blog. But the knowledge they accumulate allows them to create valuable content that attracts people to them.
They listen
The fastest way to get people to listen to you is to listen to them. Not just put up with the sounds coming out of their mouths, but to listen. And listening to others is at the heart of what successful social media communicators do. Listening and observing what people were talking about on Twitter was key to the success of Guy Kawasaki’s latest venture Alltop.com. Kawasaki is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who got his start with Apple many moons ago. Through his site, billed as “the online magazine rack,” Kawasaki finds out what people are talking about on Twitter in order to create a resource page of great content on the Web on the hottest topics.
Chris Brogan, president of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency, has a huge following on Twitter, but always seems to be directly communicating with people when they ask him a question. And he asks people for their thoughts and opinions on a regular basis because he’s genuinely interested in what others have to say.
They share
What really strikes me about successful social media folks is their willingness to share the spotlight with others. Many of these folks have spent years writing to build audiences. This includes not only writing blog posts, but also answering numerous comments and Twitter “tweets” from their readers. The successful social media communicators also take time to help others by critiquing their writing to help them find their voice. They also use their blogs and podcasts as platforms to bring attention to people who are doing things they feel are noteworthy. And, in many cases, these popular bloggers will offer a few of their readers the opportunity to be a guest author. Liz Strauss, a social Web strategist and community builder who founded the business blogger conference SOBCon, gives out her SOB award (Successful Outstanding Blogger) each week to bloggers she thinks people should be reading.
This might not seem like a big deal, but it is a huge honor if you think about it. It’s like an unknown getting a chance to be the opening act for a superstar, in front of a crowd you would never get on your own, but are interested in hearing you just because you’ve received a huge endorsement from someone they trust.
They have fun
Brian Clark is well known for his highly respectedCopyblogger.com website, which helps people up their copywriting skills to better connect with audiences. The site is full of great information, but what makes Clark someone to listen to goes beyond his considerable expertise. I look forward to what Clark has to say because he’s also funny, and because he quotes lyrics from 80’s rappers Eric B. and Rakim. And while Kawasaki is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker and serial entrepreneur, he’s got a great sense of humor. And this is readily apparent if you follow his tweets on Twitter.
Sure Liz Strauss and Chris Brogan are social media strategists and people look to them for understanding how this stuff works. They’re also great fun to talk to. Strauss shares her sense of humor on her blog and on Twitter to the delight of her thousands of followers. And Brogan’s self-deprecating humor is appreciated by anyone who has a chance to interact with him.
So if you want to be successful with your social media endeavors, do what the experts do. Read, listen, share, and go out there and have fun!
Brent Leary is a small-business technology analyst, adviser, and award-winning blogger. Leary is also host of a weekly radio program heard on Business Technology Radio. He is the co-author of Barack 2.0: Social Media Lessons for Small Business. His blog can be found at www.brentleary.com.
I would also add connect IRL (in-real-life)!
Steven Ladin
Chief Executive Officer
Ladin Ventures, LLC •
Commercial Real Estate Advisors
P: 763-331-3010
F: 763-331-3014
Twitter ID: @LadinVentures
—Sent from my E-Gadget. Please excuse my abbreviated and possibly misspelled message…I have fat fingers.
March 17th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I knew Bill Von Meister back in the 80′s. What is not mentioned in the articles about him were:
1. His first big start-off project was “The Source”, a data base in which the Internet developed out of. He sold The Source to Readers Digest for four-million dollars.
2. Then the AOL kick-off with Steve Case.
3. Then he started MCI Telecommunications and sold it.
4. Then his next project was Quest Communications, where I became involved with him when I created an interactive hot-line called PTB – (Preferred Traders and Brokers)offered through his new Quest Communications. He did a bankruptcy, then reinstated, then Sold Quest.
5. The last I time I met with him at his house in Virgina he said he had plans to get together up in North Jersey with a group of very wealth business leaders he was pulling together and start the largest “privately owned” telecommunication company in the country. He said he planned on calling the new company Verizon.
On a last note: Bill was a member of the FORBES 200 entrepreneur Club started by Malcum Forbes.
March 17th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Wow! I think I caught all but items #4 and #5 in my article. He sounded like a fascinating man.
Thank you very much for updating this blog entry.
John
April 11th, 2008 at 12:55 am
[...] The Story of a Pathological Entrepreneur [...]
May 29th, 2009 at 9:03 am
John, This is a wonderful tribute to my late “Big Brother,” Bill. And, yes, I was the other conspirator of operation Dawn Patrol. There are a few details most don’t know, among them that after MailGram, Bill started TDX, Inc. that was the genesis for C&W’s foothold in North America. Also, we didn’t sell the Source (Telecomputing Corporation of America) to Reader’s Digest. One of our investors named Jack Taub (of the philatelist company fame) tried to do that, and the resulting litigation turned out quite favorably for us, and an embarassment to former Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, who was then Reader’s Digest’s general counsel. Most memorable perhaps, is that we started Digital Broadcasting Corporation of America (DBC) by pioneering the technology to broadcast digital data over FM sub-carrier channels at an astounding (for 1979) rate of 7500 baud, and print discretely addressed messages at any receiver within the broadcast contour. At a hearing before an FCC sub-committee on our application for a provisional broadcast development permit, the Chair rejected our application with the rationale that the public airwaves will never be allowed to be used for private message transmission. Like so many arrogant regulators, he no doubt had concluded that everything worthy of invention had already been invented! There are many great stories yet untold. Best regards, Peter von Meister.
May 29th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Peter,
This is what I love about blogging. I was skimming some research about AOL when I stumbled across this fascinating man (William). An hour later I had written this article about a person I had never heard of. His story is fascinating. I am so happy you found your way to this blog. Thanks for your input.
John
September 19th, 2009 at 12:59 am
AOL did not just appear out of thin air with a collaboration between William von Meister and Steve Case. It evolved from many other Quantum Computer Services technologies (which does not include The Source). William von Meister founded Control Video Corporation, which licensed technology from PlayNet to build Quantum Link, PC-Link, et. al. It can be said von Meister was instrumental in the creation of AOL, but not its “inventor.” James Kimsey and Steve Case really forged the foundation on which the modern day AOL stands.
June 27th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
I first met Bill while he was an undergraduate at Georgetown U. I was a budding ‘ham’ operator working out of central Arlington and struggling with old late forties equipment cobbled together on a tight budget. Bill invited me over to his townhouse in Georgetown to check out his own rig. It was first class. One might actually work the radio if the ‘hi’fi’ system was not screaming the sounds of hot European cars racing. We remained friends for a few years after he was married and moved to north Adams street in Arlington. He loved those cars. We both moved on but I remembered him often while being consumed by the internet startup, ValueAmerica.com.