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Games - Friday, October 29, 2004

Linden Lab - Profile

HQ: San Francisco Founded: 1999 Management: Founder/CEO is Philip Rosedale. We met Philip in 1995 when he was running 1-man firm developing software for used-car salesmen. He then created a video codec that caught the attention of Rob Glaser at Real Networks, which at the time was audio only. Philip's business model was to put a camera on a couple of strippers in the basement of our shabby office complex and pump the live video over the net. Philip moved to Seattle and went on to become Real's CTO. Philip has social skills despite his geek interior, but make no mistake, Linden Labs is driven less by financial reward - there are easier ways for Philip to cash in - than by his own geek fantasy to pioneer virtual worlds. Investors: Company raised $8M in October 2004 from Benchmark Capital, individuals and the Omidyar Network. Linden was seed funded by Mitch Kapor and Drugstore.com founder Jed Smith. Business Model: Linden Lab operates Second Life, an online multi-player world similar to The Sims, except that in Second Life players have tools to create characters and their accoutrements. Players pay $9.95 to launch Second Life. Competitors: DigitalSpace, OZGate Dirt: We believe... Continue...