• DOI:10.2307/41165995
• Corpus ID: 153810278

Building a Company on Internet Time: Lessons from Netscape

@article{Yoffie1999BuildingAC,
  title={Building a Company on Internet Time: Lessons from Netscape},
  author={David B. Yoffie and Michael A. Cusumano},
  journal={California Management Review},
  year={1999},
  volume={41},
  pages={28 - 8}
}

• D. Yoffie, M. Cusumano
• Published 1 April 1999
• Business
• California Management Review

The Internet has created new demands on start-up companies: How do you grow an organization faster than ever before? This article draws lessons from Netscape, the fastest growing software company in history. Netscape executives did four big things right: they crafted a compelling but pragmatic vision; they made experience a top priority in hiring staff; they built big-company resources while maintaining smallcompany flexibility; and they successfully leveraged external resources in order to compensate for the company's small size. At the same time, company leaders made mistakes: They overestimated the pace of technological change, they failed to develop systematic strategic processes until it was almost too late, and they often sacrificed long-term value in favor of short-term cash. Despite these failings, Netscape built a successful organization that ultimately delivered $10 billion in value to their shareholders after only four years.