About
AlwaysOn is one of the premier media brands in the emerging technology space, providing a highly networked experience to readers, event participants, sponsors, bloggers, and advertisers. AlwaysOn established one of the first social media networks with the launch of its AlwaysOn Network in 2003, delivering premium content in a true networked environment, with features from leading venture capitalists, industry thought leaders, and key company executives. In addition, AlwaysOn hosts its “World Tour,” a series of executive events at premier locations across the U.S.
Thesis
Silicon Valley has transformed from a physical location to a global mentality—from Dubai to Shanghai, from Austin to Boston, from Moscow to Tokyo. As this mindset becomes ever-more pervasive with the massive successes of Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, Tencent, Baidu, Orkut, and the like, AlwaysOn is uniquely positioned to network this “Global Silicon Valley” among entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and thought leaders.
People
AlwaysOn is led by Tony Perkins, who has established his reputation as a pioneer in emerging technology media, consistently recognized as a top ten technology business journalist by Adweek’s Technology Marketing Magazine.
Management Team
- Tony Perkins, Co-Founder and CEO
- Creator and former editor-in-chief of Red Herring magazine, and co-author of “The Internet Bubble: Inside the Overvalued World of High-Tech Stocks” (HarperBusiness, 1999), an international bestseller that foretold the dot-com bust. He served on President George W. Bush's Information Technology Advisory Council and is a recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Earned his BA from the University of California, Davis.
- Kayvan Baroumand, President and COO
- Joining AlwaysOn in March 2011, Kayvan is also the CEO of Global Tech Ventures, which is developing a global network of business accelerators that support entrepreneurship in the technology space. Previously, Kayvan was the COO of Plug and Play Tech Center, and an Investment Manager at Amidzad Ventures, a seed-stage investment company with a portfolio of over 50 early-stage companies. He earned his BA from the University of California, Irvine.
Product
The AlwaysOn Network provides users with an exceptional mix of content, networking, events, and highly influential personalities. AlwaysOn users tend to be affluent, well-educated, globally minded, and highly influential. They're thought leaders and executives from business, investment, media, academia, and government, often involved in emerging business opportunities where innovation is creating new enterprises and new industries. The AlwaysOn World Tour attracts thousands of participants from the emerging technology ecosystem, including entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, media thought leaders, and industry executives, also attracting world-class sponsorships from the Fortune 500 and other global leaders.
Potential
AlwaysOn is clearly positioned as one of the top brands in emerging technology media. With the explosion of social media, cloud computing, software-as-a-service, and a host of other disruptive technologies emerging around the globe, AlwaysOn has the potential to be the Network of the Global Silicon Valley. We envision international expansion of both the AlwaysOn Network and World Tour as a key driver for the growth of the business.
Megatrends
- Knowledge Economy
- Globalization
- Internet
- Network Effects
How Big Can This Be?
AlwaysOn has the potential to be the Network of the Global Silicon Valley, with potentially hundreds of thousands of users networked through online and live-event platforms. As social networks become the predominant global online activity, AlwaysOn could capture a meaningful share of the global professional network in emerging technology.
Predictability
AlwaysOn enjoys a stellar reputation among key leaders in the emerging technology and technology media markets, and as such, has proven to be an excellent draw at both its online property and live events. The Company enjoys strong recurring revenues from its event sales, as well as corporate sponsorships including marquee names such as HP, KPMG, Morgan Stanley, SAP, IBM, Accenture, NASDAQ, as well as leading law firms such as Wilson Sonsini, Cooley and Goodwin Procter.
Risks
Professional networking sites such as LinkedIn could prove to be formidable competitors to AlwaysOn. LinkedIn has the financial and operational resources to potentially replicate a global network among technology and entrepreneurial-minded professionals. Additionally, the historical success of AlwaysOn has largely been driven by Tony Perkins, and the loss of Tony’s leadership at the Company could prove to be detrimental to the Company’s prospects going forward.
