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Seattle-based Panicware Inc. in 2000 was the first to hit the market with software that blocked Internet pop-up ads. But even then, Panicware co-founder and CEO Matina Fresenius knew it would take more than innovative software code and airtight patents to win market acceptance .
The key to building a successful software business depended greatly on Panieware's ability to set up distribution channels.
In 2000, the ultimate distribution channel was the Web, and Fresenius took full advantage of it, making Panicware's PopUp Stopper available to users for free. All they had to do was go to Panicware's Web site and download it.
Included in the early downloadable verit sions of Pop-Up Stopper was a link to a site where users could enter their e-mail addresses so they could receive updates to the software.
Like many software companies first experimenting with the Internet in the 1990s, Fresenius was betting e-mail and the Web would be a good way to build customer loyalty.
Today, Panicware's Pop-Up Stopper software has more than 15 million registered users and is carried on the shelves of some of the biggest retailers in the business Wal-Mart, Best Buy, CompUSA, Costco, Staples and OfficeMax.
Revenues at Panicware jumped from about $732,000 in 2002 to $3.8 million last year, according to Fresenius....