Start-up of online ventures from a corporate base and from point zero

Kevin Howat was named Senior Vice President, Business Development at WiseBear.com, Inc. in November 1999. Immediately prior to this appointment, he served as Vice President, Business Development & Brand Management at Time Inc. New Media. Mr. Howat was a co-founder of and served as Vice President and Publisher for Simon & Schuster's Macmillan Digital unit, an early publisher of new media titles for consumer reference market. He has also held editorial and marketing management positions with book publishers Thomson and Addison & Wesley. This article is based on a presentation made during the E-Commerce: Developing New Online Businesses for Publishers, a seminar sponsored by the Center for Publishing, New York University, Villa La Pietra, Florence, Italy, February 2–5, 2000.