Steve Case - The Story of AOL's Architect
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Case Details:
Case Code : LDEN017
Case Length : 14 Pages
Period : 1992-2002
Pub Date : 2002
Teaching Note :Not Available
Organization : AOL TW
Industry : Media and Entertainment Countries : USA
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Please note:
This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source.
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Excerpts
Steve's Pre-AOL Days
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Case was born on August 21, 1958, in Honolulu (Hawaii). His
father was a corporate lawyer and his mother was an elementary school teacher.
In a family of four brothers and sisters, Case was the third child. Since
childhood he displayed many entrepreneurial skills. During his childhood and
teen years he undertook many ventures, almost all of them in partnership with
his elder brother Daniel. When Case was six years old and Daniel was seven, they
set up a lemonade stand in the neighborhood, using limes from their backyard.
The brothers charged 2 cents a cup. As many people gave them a nickel and asked
them to keep the change, the brothers earned high margins over their investment.
This was the time Case understood the importance of high margins over
investment.
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A few years later, the brothers formed Case Enterprises, through which they
sold items ranging from gardening seeds to greeting cards. These items were
distributed by mail or door-to-door delivery. Their next venture was the
setting up of the Aloha Sales Agency to sell advertisement circulars.
Speaking about this, Daniel recalled that Case woke him up at midnight to
tell him that he had found the 'perfect name'(Budget Booster) for their
advertisement circular...
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Case, The Entreprenuer: AOL's Initial Days
Case encountered many problems at the very beginning of his career. Control
Video faced a severe cash crunch a few days after Case joined. Following
this, the company fired the existing management team and roped in Jim Kimsey
(Kimsey), an army captain turned entrepreneur, as the CEO to set things
right. Reportedly, Case had a narrow escape from being fired along with the
old management team. Case made himself useful at the company by helping
Kimsey bring in fresh capital from various sources. |
Kimsey soon recognized the 'spark' in Case and reportedly groomed Case to be his successor.
By 1985, Case felt that the video games business was on the verge of extinction.
Meanwhile, his belief that there was a latent market for user-friendly online
services grew stronger. The online services provided at that time were very
complex, costly and provided poor quality content...
Excerpts Contd... >>
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