Webclipping

Noah Silverman got the idea for his
company, Webclipping.com, when he
was taking Public Relations classes as
an undergrad at NYU. Launched in
1999, Silverman's company provides
on-line monitoring and corporate
intelligence services.

Webclipping.com tracks public opinion,
identifies misinformation, gathers market
intelligence, polices copyright and
trademark abuse, improves customer
service, and protects corporate
reputations. Webclipping.com uses
software agents such as Engine Scan,
Web News Watch, Discussion Tracker,
and E-News Monitor that seek out
every mention of search criteria set by
Webclipping.com account executives
and their clients. The results of these
searches can then be viewed seven days
a week, twenty-four hours a day.

When clients come to Webclipping.com,
they are usually looking for a variety of
services such as tracking their own
company, their product line, their
industry, or potential investments.
Therefore, a majority of
Webclipping.com's clients are Public
Relations firms throughout the world.
Many fortune 500 companies, law firms,
investment bankers, and high-tech firms
also utilize the intelligence gathering
services provided by Silverman's
company.

Silverman started Webclipping.com as
an experiment out of his house in 1998.
His first goal was to run a virtual
corporation. His second was to develop
software that would accomplish his
company's goals in a way that none of
his competitors could. By the second
quarter of 1999, Silverman began to see
the success of Webclipping.com. He
was averaging about $65,000 a month
in revenue, running his company from a
one-bedroom apartment with one
assistant. He then began to seek out
venture capitalists.

Silverman said, "One of the things I
have learned is that, as one becomes
successful, a lot of people want to ride
on your coattails. People I had ten
minute conversations with began to
come back and ask for percentages of
the company because they felt that
they had contributed to the company's
growth." Silverman says that you have
to be very careful about who you
work with.

There are several people who been
influential in Silverman's success. He
praises his attorneys, Proskauer Rose,
as invaluable. "They are almost like
surrogate parents." Sun Micro
Systems has also helped with his
company's proprietary software
development.

Silverman's current challenge is
growing the company and building his
brand without the corporate sponsors
that many of his competitors have. His
goal is to prove that his company's
actual value is better than his
competitor's perceived value.

Silverman's days are long and hectic
now that his company is expanding.
As the CEO, CTO, and Director of
Operations, he juggles a lot of work.
As his company grows, Silverman
finds that he must delegate and
outsource more.

Silverman feels that being an
entrepreneur is very rewarding. He
enjoys the creativity of it. "At the end
of the day, even simple things like
writing an employee lunch policy is up
to me. I can create any environment I
want. I also feel responsible for my
employees. It's like having an
extended family, which is nice."

Silverman believes in having a positive
and collaborative work environment
for his employees. He does not like
traditional corporate structure.
"People can walk in and out of my
office freely, all day long. I am
accessible for meetings with all levels,
from the interns up to the managers."

When asked about free time,
Silverman summed it up with a story.
"One time a friend asked me to go to
dinner. They did not want to interrupt
my work schedule so they asked
when I was free. I said never, so let's
just go. I am always going to be
behind. There is always more work
piling up on my desk than I have time
to do."

Silverman often works until about 7
or 8 P.M. and then goes home to
dinner or to the gym. He sometimes
even returns to the office and works
until 1 or 2 in the morning before
going to bed. He tries to catch a
three-day weekend once every
month or so. He finds the best way
to think about challenges or issues is
to just walk away from the table and
then come back.

When asked about his lifestyle,
Silverman stated that he is
comfortable. "I'm not running around
buying Ferraris, but I do enjoy my
new Jeep." When it comes to
clothing, he believes in dressing well
and building his wardrobe. However,
Silverman tends to go from one
extreme to the other based on the
day's schedule. He can either be
fomrally dressed, or wearing track
pants and sneakers.

Silverman has been involved with
martial arts since he was six. He is
currently training in Muay Thi, a form
of Thai kickboxing. He is also an
avid photographer and works with
large format black and white prints.
He is also a bit of a chef because he
used to work with a restaurant.

When EnTrends asked him what
advice he would give to other
entrepreneurs starting out, Silverman
said, "Don't let your ego get in the
way. You should not be so obsessed
with your title as much as what you
are doing. It's all about being humble,
putting in the hours, and paying
attention to what your clients want."
In the future, Silverman wants to
grow his company into a large
multinational media company.