Ben Behrouzi Blog » ben behrouzi

Reply.com Files S1 to $60 Million IPO in 2010

Ben Behrouzi — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:44:44 +0000

I’m excited to announce that about 3AM PST this morning Reply.com successfully filed for its much anticipated 2010 IPO.

SAN RAMON, CA – February 22, 2010 – Reply! Inc. today announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock.

Jefferies & Company, Inc. and Piper Jaffray & Co. will act as joint book-running managers for the offering with Needham & Company, LLC and ThinkEquity LLC acting as co-managers. The shares of common stock to be sold in this offering are proposed to be sold by Reply! and certain of Reply!’s stockholders. The number of shares to be sold in the proposed offering and the offering price have not yet been determined.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities, in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. A written preliminary prospectus related to the offering may be obtained, when available, from the prospectus department of:

Jefferies & Company, Inc., Equity Syndicate Middle Office, Attn: Stephen M. Ficara, 520 Madison Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10022 (telephone: 212-284-3418/email: sficara@jefferies.com); or
Piper Jaffray & Co., Prospectus Department, 800 Nicollet Mall, Suite 800, Minneapolis, MN, 55402 (telephone: 800-747-3924/email: prospectus@pjc.com).

About Reply! Inc.

Reply.com operates a proprietary auction marketplace that enables advertisers to acquire locally-targeted and category-specific customer prospects on a cost-per-Enhanced Click™ or cost-per-lead basis. By eliminating the need for advertisers to develop and maintain complex, expensive online marketing infrastructures and teams of experts to source online consumer traffic from many different channels, Reply.com simplifies online locally-targeted marketing for businesses of all sizes.

Coverage :

TechCrunch - Reply.com Files For $60 Million IPO

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40 Under 40, Silicon Valley Business Journal Awards

Ben Behrouzi — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:21:21 +0000

A few weeks ago I was honored to accept recognition as a Top 40 Under 40 Entreprenuer by Silicon Valley Business Journal. Although I’m not yet near my forties, it was great to receive the recognition and participate in a celebration of innovation with so many other CEOs from the valley.

It was truly a privilege to meet and greet with 2009’s class of innovators including Marissa Mayer of Google, Michael Madison of Cocoon Ventures and many others. The honorees spanned across an array of industries and arenas including venture capital, social networking, finance and more in public, private and nonprofit sectors.

The celebration was a lot of fun. Here is a video of the event and some of the honorees.

40 Under 40 Awards – Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal

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Producers vs Destroyers

Ben Behrouzi — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:52:20 +0000

Over many years and with many trials and tribulations in both business and in my personal life, I have been convinced that in this world there are 2 types of people; those that build and those that destroy. Those that build embody the positive spirits of creativity, love and creating value. While, those that destroy embody the weaknesses of hatred, ego and laziness. The differences are that one group produces, is generous and thinks in terms of “we”. While the other group clings, criticizes and destroys in order to feed the basest of human qualities and advance the “self” at the cost of producers.

Unfortunately all sorts of prices are paid by those that produce, in business, in personal and in health. But in my opinion the worst price that could ever be paid would be to allow for those that destroy to change a producer into a destroyer. I recently received a simple email that speaks to this and I thought I’d share. Produce anyway.

“People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies; Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.”

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25 Years After Escaping Iran

Ben Behrouzi — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:48:18 +0000

Its hard to imagine that its been almost 25 years since my parents secretly smuggled many of our family members out of Iran due to brutal religious persecution. Persecution that is unfortunately picking up once again in todays time.

A reader asked me to provide more info about this portion of my background and so I offered this short post.

The 1979 revolution of Iran put in place a theocracy that among many other horrific things, directly executed over 200 Bahai’s, destroyed Bahai holy places, burned thousands of homes, denied everyone access to higher education and spread mass propoganda labeling all non Muslims, specifically the Bahai’s, as spies and terrorists. As a result Iran’s lower class was stimulated into a dangerous mob that resulted in many more killings and threatened increasing harm in addition to the harm already offered directly by the new Islamic Government. So, in fear of our lives, we were forced to secretly flee the country, as simply leaving was not a friendly option.

I was about 4.5 years old when my parents, Ahdieh and Anush, were brave enough to initiate the smuggling of our family out of the country through the desert, at night, by jeep and camel into Pakistan. Although the smugglers were able to successfully and safely put us past the border, they stole every valuble thing my family had. We lived in Lahore Pakistan for 18 months before we attained our Visa into the US and into Alaska. After 18 months in Saint Petersburg Alaska, my parents moved us to Central Valley California, where I grew up.

I wish I could say the rest is history, but its not. Over the last 2 years Iran’s government has begun similar behavior to its past by systematically kidnapping, imprisoning, and scheduling for execution more and more minority groups nationwide without any access to a lawyer. The situation in Iran is once again growing progressively worse and everyone who is intimately aware of the events of the past is once again gravely concerned.

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Ben Behrouzi & The Most Fashionable Rumors Online

Ben Behrouzi — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 05:25:10 +0000

Hi, I’m Ben Behrouzi, and you should probably get the popcorn right now. And don’t forget the butter. Below are the most recent and most fashionable rumors about me online. I try to update the list as frequently as possible but I may be a bit behind, so I do apologize in advance.

As you may already know its a brave new world out there with web 2.0. Not only has web 2.0 given life to constructive user generated content, which is why we Love it by the way, but it has also given life to anyone with a keyboard with a lot of free time on their hands aiming to get some darn good old fashioned attention. Here are some examples :

Google Sucks. Do a Google on “Google Sucks” and you’ll find all sorts of neat “journalism” and goodies. So does Google suck? I don’t think so. Should you stop using Google? This ones a tough one, moving on…

Steve Jobs Heart Attack Rumor. Just recently someone special posted that Steve Jobs had a heart attack. As a result Apple took a 10% stock price plunge that day… So did he really have a heart attack? No. Did he have an anxiety attack? No. Was there any uncomfortably in the chest area? No. How about after the stock plunge? Probably. Where is the trigger happy guy with the keyboard now? Probably in timeout.

So what’s the point? The point is, as in the real world, the Internet has the tabloids, TMZ and bums too. Enjoy…

Ben Behrouzi And The Most Fashionable Rumors Online

Rumor # 1 : Ben Behrouzi Was Fired From One of The Companies he Co-Founded, Reply! (Reply.com)

Nothing like the scent of lies and propaganda in the morning.

False. I co-founded Reply! at the age of 20 and lead the development of technology and products over the course of 6 years. As scheduled, I phased out of operations at the close of 2006 to expand from lead generation and build new Internet Companies. I remain as one of the largest shareholders and supporters of my company. Unfortunately, I have been the recipient of a substantial number of ongoing smears since I left.

The individual that was the “source” of this rumor was fired a long time ago before I left for use and abuse of alcohol on the job.

Rumor # 2 : Ben Behrouzi is a Bully and Dislikes Bloggers

False. I love bloggers. In fact one of our divisions, iHype.com, pays bloggers to write about new products and services online. What I do despise are blogmobsters and those that use blogs as a means to bully others. “Freeze! Or I’ll Blog About You” is the juvenile threat that comes to mind while they hide behind the banner of “We are exercising our free speech rights”. Actually you’re committing defamation.

Here some of the top blog mobster personas documented by our expert friend in defamation law : http://www.cybertriallawyer.com/defamation-lawyers

Rumor # 3 : Ben Behrouzi Regretfully Left an Ugly Voicemail

With regret, the voicemail is true. I was 22 or 23 with an immense amount of pressure from bankers, investors and our operations, and probably too much testosterone. However, the context is false.

Rogue engineers and blog mobsters alike tend to tell you only a fraction of the story. The engineer in that call had intoxicated himself with alcohol on the job, sabotaged the live production environment, stolen $200k in tech equipment and never returned a call from his 4 managers. After 2 kind calls from me and the local authorities at his home, he finally responded to my angry message.

Nevertheless, I apologized to him when we recovered the equipment and went so far as helping him enroll into AA with a chance at rehire if he were to demonstrate recovery. 2 – 3 years later he went on a smearing campaign against me even though I was arguably the most helpful employer and friend he had in the work world. About 1 year ago this young genius level systems engineer died from liver failure due to alcohol abuse.

Rumor # 4 : Ben Behrouzi Sued a Blogger to Stop His Free Speech

False. We sued not a blogger, but a single individual, who was seriously defaming our company to get attention for himself. This individual began by calling our products a scam and by defaming me personally on his websites. Every email I sent him to understand why he was attacking us was posted online with a spin to gain more and more attention. He went so far as accusing our firm of having posted disgusting messages online about him. I worked to get us on a phone call, our legal team worked to engage him in a dialog, all to no avail. He continued to portray himself as a victim while attacking our company and people simultaneously. I was left no option but to sue. The case was reviewed by both lawyers, the individual’s response was heard and without getting into the details of the settlement, the individual posted a letter of retraction.

Take a look at a different case and the reality of this problem facing the legal system : http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-10-internet-defamation-case_x.htm

Rumor # 5 : Ben Behrouzi is Against Free Speech

False. Actually, I am a strong proponent of responsible free speech, but I am against the hijacking of this great right to attack others via blogs. I’ve been attacked, harassed, stalked, threatened and much more all over the Internet under the banner of “Free Speech.”

Rumor # 6 : Ben Behrouzi Has Sex With His Mother and Has a Sexual Fascination For Small Monkeys.

False. I know its crazy, but believe it or not somebody has posted this accusation online. Can anyone say Freudian slip?

Rumor # 7 : Ben Behrouzi is a Spammer And Supports Shill Comments Online

False. We don’t tolerate SPAM and just because an employee enjoys and supports where they work and communicates those feelings online does not mean a company promotes SPAM or shill comments. But we’ve put in some serious measures for these ridiculous critics. Every single day we beat the sales force with bamboo sticks and have them listen to very depressing music so that they never write anything positive about where they work. Ever. Sometimes we do get a fast and loose one, but we stick them in the basement with a red stapler almost immediately.

Rumor # 8 : Ben Behrouzi is a Meany.

If you are against the notion that owning a keyboard must precede with a license, then yes I’m a meany.

Rumor # 9 : Ben Behrouzi Engages in Cyber-squatting.

False. But I have purchased domains that are of interest to me.

Rumor # 10 : Ben Behrouzi And Company are Greedy

If by greedy we mean that our companies have produced hundreds of new jobs, killer health and dental benefits, given hundreds of thousands of dollars back to communities, hosted awesome ping pong tournaments all while building great services, then yes we are greedy.

Rumor # 11 : Ben Behrouzi Plays Ping Pong All Day Instead of Putting Investor Money to Work.

False. We play ping pong all day and all night.

Rumor # 12 : Ben Behrouzi And Company Are in The Business of Click Fraud.

“A click click here, a click click there, here a click, there a click, everywhere a click click.” This is our motto and in fact this is what we chant at Monday morning meetings every week. And actually, we are thinking of releasing a Christmas CD this year! We’re very excited.

When you have a large sale force, sometimes you get some loose canons. But in no way shape or form does the act of one individual suggest that the entire company supports, endorses and promotes such silly activity. But there is no point for the tabloids to point that out, it wouldn’t sell! Sing with me..

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Persecution of Baha'is Increase in Iran

Ben Behrouzi — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:45:41 +0000

I just wrote a piece on the recent increasing persecution of the Baha’is of Iran. Most recently, several key community members of the Baha’is of Iran were kidnapped, charged without any evidence, imprisoned without access to a lawyer and now, one year later, scheduled for a staged trial that will determine their fate. In 1980, the last time a similar event occurred, all who were kidnapped were executed…

Startup Growing Pains

Ben Behrouzi — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:53:21 +0000

I just wrote a piece on progressive governance at MaxStartup.com.

Too often startups make the mistake of applying too much brakes and governance to alleviate the growing pains and challenges they face. Managers instill too many protocols, policies, procedures that weigh down a business during a time where speed and agility are everything. It is supremely important for managers to detect the problems and apply the exact amount of governance necessary without comprising the climb of a business.

Ben Behrouzi Joins Twitter If Dalai Lama Joins Twitter

Ben Behrouzi — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:15:58 +0000

You can’t help hearing about Twitter these days. Twitter this, twitter that, tweet this, retweet that. It’s a phenomenon that even the holiness the Dalai Lama has joined in on. Heck, if the Dalai Lama is going to Twitter then maybe there is something to be said about everyone using Twitter.

So recently I’ve been using and playing around with Twitter and to my own surprise I find it stimulating and actually supremely valuable to business in all sorts of ways. So I’ve officially taken it up and have big plans for making it a big part of what I do and what we do going forward.

So if you want to stay in touch and follow our progress, join me at Twitter.com/BenBehrouzi!

Best,

Ben Behrouzi

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LeapFish.com Launches Fastest Search Experience, Pushes Search to 2.0

Ben Behrouzi — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:55:33 +0000

No Click Search Technology Delivers Instantaneous Results as You’re Typing

PLEASANTON, Calif., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ — LeapFish, a multi-dimensional search engine that combines the best of the web in a single search, today announced the release of its new click-free search interface that delivers search results as you type. The brand new search engine that captures not just relevancy but also the variety of the web, now offers one of the world’s fastest search services with instantaneous results as each character of a search term is entered.

LeapFish pushes search to 2.0 and states “out with the search button.” LeapFish’s revolutionary new click-free search interface gives life to a fast, fluid and dynamic search experience that extracts the variety of data from major online destinations such as Google, YouTube, Ebay and others in a single search query. Consolidating a knowledge base of relevancy and variety from major online authorities, LeapFish effectively renders more comprehensive results than those returned by its providers.

“This technology is truly evolutionary in the context of today’s Internet,” said Behnam Behrouzi, president and CEO of LeapFish. “Desirable data continues to be lost at an accelerating rate due to the information overload and filter failure of search engines. The LeapFish click-free search functionality and aggregation capability offers users a convenient solution for users to maintain control over this data.”

The inspiration behind LeapFish has been the opportunity to provide an answer to the information overload and the fragmentation of accessibility that is naturally occurring online today. “If relevancy, the currently defined search formula, continues to be limited by the virtual real estate allotted by page 1 of the major search engines, then the variety and accessibility of the breadth of the web is being lost in the information overload,” says Behrouzi. “LeapFish works to capture this variety in a new multidimensional, and now instantaneous, click-free search interface.”

For users who don’t have heavy Internet usage, LeapFish promises to conveniently surprise them with information they wouldn’t have normally been aware of if they used a traditional search engine.

The revolutionary new search service uses proprietary hyper-threading technology to communicate with a growing list of over 200 online authorities, currently under development, to deliver more than just relevancy to users. LeapFish launched its search platform in November 2008 and is currently seeking patents for its new offering.

To try the new click-free search engine for yourself, visit http://www.leapfish.com.

About LeapFish

LeapFish is a multi-dimensional search engine that captures the variety of the web in a single click free search interface. The search engine delivers instantaneous results from major Internet destinations while you type. LeapFish Inc. is a privately held corporation headquartered out of CARR America Corporate Center in Pleasanton California. For more information, visit http://www.leapfish.com.

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