LOS ANGELES, March 26, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- As the Internet implosion winds down, three veterans have emerged from the crash bruised but breathing. Taking lemons and turning them into lemonade.com -- so to speak -- they launched PopSmack (http://www.popsmack.com), a New Media company that caters to the youth market.
Weary of the industry shakeout, and watching their comrades continue to fall, the kids at PopSmack decided that the best way to avoid being laid off (again) was to take their ten collective years in the industry and harness their own entrepreneurial spirit. They've taken their collective talents and molded them into a new kind of company -- one with a unique, dual-purpose mission that is highly original. On one side, PopSmack is an Online Advertising, Marketing and Design agency. On the other, it's a Network of tight and focused original content. Both missions are being accomplished without VC dependency or dot-com excess of days past.
"Having dealt with some of the major Internet players and experiencing the crash from the inside, we have learned what works on the Web and in business. We're eager to share what we know," said PopSmack's Director of Creative Services and founding partner Tracy Castelli, whose dot-com tour of duty included stints at drDrew.com and Scour.com. "We're very hopeful because we're doin' our own thang now -- which we wouldn't have been motivated to do without that lay-off push. We're a dynamic company, and by way of serendipity have just about every noteworthy angle covered -- we're youth-oriented, minority-owned, net-native, and lots of other hyphenated words. Oh, we also still have all of our own teeth."
The PopSmack founders are hyper-aware of the press that's been given to the shakeout -- and the subsequent return to Gen-X slack -- but feel it's noteworthy that some dot-com crash victims have turned things around to become a success story.
"There's a lot to learn from the thinning of the dot-com landscape. I realized that the failed dot-coms to whom I sold my sweat -- Snowball.com, HomePage.com, eToys, etc. -- were just baby steps. The real lesson lay in taking a chance on us, rather than jumping aboard another potentially failed dot-com," added Larry Adams, PopSmack founding partner and Director of Business Development for the six-person firm. "We're producing rich media and content without the aid of VCs or angels, which seems both obvious and radical at the same time. By offering a service-oriented business with a workable, profitable model, we maintain self-reliance."
PopSmack offers a new kind of Internet company, because it's not about the excessive and rapid growth of the recent past, but rather keeping it small and focused to stay alive. Added Adams, "We're busting our asses because we believe in the medium, and we believe in real work rather than hiding under our desks and resting on our useless stock 'sloptions.' The sky is not falling. It's just dark for a while. PopSmack will be there when the sun shines on the technology sector again."
PopSmack Studio
The PopSmack Studio is a profitable, privately held Interactive Youth Marketing, Advertising and Design agency founded in August 2000. Located in Los Angeles, the company specializes in viral marketing, print and Web design, and copy and content. PopSmack takes product from inception to development to public consumption.
PopSmack Network
The PopSmack Network is home to original film shorts, animation, digital video and experimental Flash. The Network also produces and maintains Web properties like Code77 and A Girl Online, two upcoming channels geared toward minority youth and cynical women, respectively.
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CONTACT: PopSmack
Tracy Castelli, Director of Creative Services
(213) 892-8316
E-Mail: tracy@popsmack.com
Larry Adams
(213) 892-8316
larry@popsmack.com