About, Inc. Enters the B2B Market

Posted on October 2, 2000

About, Inc., a network of websites with web guides covering hundreds of topics, has announced that it has licensed its business model to a newly formed company, ABZ, Inc., that will leverage About's technology, model and customer base into the B2B space.

About's newly launched Industry Network is powered by ABZ and is an example of the product ABZ will offer customer groups within the B2B sector. ABZ is an industry-focused content aggregator and outsourcer. ABZ is now live within the About Industry Network with 30 verticals. The new Industry Network includes targeted news feeds, industry and market research, company profiles, Q&A, and maintains the About.com human guides for each section. Vertical topics range from Air Quality to Biotech to Pulp/Paper to Hospital Administration to Electric Power to Composite Materials.

Mr. Arvind Gupta, 38, has been appointed CEO of ABZ. Arvind joins ABZ from MarchFIRST, a management and Internet consulting firm. Previously, he was a Principal at Booz Allen & Hamilton. Arvind holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School and a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from Rutgers University.

Arvind Gupta, CEO of ABZ, Inc., says in a statement, "We will be successful because ABZ embodies About's expertise in harnessing the power of the Web in aggregating content and developing communities. ABZ is fast and flexible and our verticals dynamically adjust to industry and client-specific shifts in ways no competitive offerings can. We offer a unique product in the fastest growing segment of Internet commerce and are poised to have a formidable presence in the B2B space."

Scott Kurnit, Chairman & CEO of About, says, "The formation of ABZ is an important part of our development on many levels. About will now gain greater customer leverage through the pervasiveness of reaching users where they live, work and play. The About model is viral, scalable and very difficult to duplicate and ABZ will mirror these traits in the B2B market. We are excited to bring Arvind on board to lead these efforts, as his industry expertise and leadership qualities make him a perfect fit."



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