By Steve Niles
What do an independent insurance agent and a college professor have in common? Well, if they're Kenny West and J.D. Crouch, they share a common interest in all things Palm and a desire to create the most comprehensive resource for Palm applications, hardware, news, and information.
These two pioneers are the men behind PalmGear H.Q. at http://www.palmgear.com. The site is pictured in Figure A.
FIGURE A
PalmGear H.Q. has everything for your Palm computer. (click for larger image)
Many of you are probably already frequent visitors to PalmGear H.Q. If you're a developer, you might even have your software listed on the site's extensive application database. What you might not know, however, is the fascinating story behind the site.
Birth of a Web site
To learn more about how PalmGear H.Q. was created, I spoke with the company's Chief Executive Officer, Kenny West, who founded the company along with his partner J.D. Crouch. West and Crouch were both early adopters of Palm devices, and they met through online CompuServe Palm forums, where users would go for tips and technical assistance. The two of them began answering questions for other users and became so good at providing useful tips and information that a CompuServe representative contacted them and asked them to become official "sysops," otherwise known as System Operators. They took on the role and continued fielding and answering questions about where to find software and accessories for Palm devices.
As they saw it, there were about a half-dozen sites doing software and about another dozen doing hardware, so they ended up sending people to five or six different sites to answer one question. They agreed what was needed was a single, thorough, Web-based resource for everything the Palm user needed.
The idea for PalmGear H.Q. was born.
A rare breed
West and Crouch had two primary reasons for starting PalmGear. One, they wanted to aggregate the vast amount of Palm resources onto one easy-to-use site, and two, they wanted to get on beta lists so that they could get their hands on new technology ahead of the crowd. They didn't have it in mind to start a new business when PalmGear H.Q. opened in 1997. They never even had a formal meeting to develop a business plan. Yet somehow these two pioneers created what is now generally recognized as the first e-commerce site devoted to Palm-related products.
In the "dot-com" world, PalmGear H.Q. was a rare breed, as it started with no outside funding or bank loans. In fact, as West recalls, the entire start-up cost was around $1,500, with a third going to Web site design, a third going to general supplies, and a third going to the cost of Internet access.
