Two friends who fought together in one of the most significant corporate battles of the internet age have turned rivals in a new online market.
Jim Clark and Jim Barksdale, friends-in-arms at Netscape when the company vied with Microsoft for its share of the internet browser market, are both hoping to make a fortune from different online photo processing companies.
Clark, the serial entrepreneur behind Netscape, is backing Shutterfly.com while Barksdale is a key financial force behind Ofoto.com.
The companies, which launched their websites on exactly the same day last month, are keen rivals in one of the most competitive fields of e-commerce. IDC, the research group, estimates that the number of digital cameras will increase from about 5m to 22m globally over the next three years. It forecasts that the previously expensive machines used by tech-heads mainly in the US were "on the verge of a mass-market explosion".
Such predictions set off an explosion in the number of new firms trying to gain a foothold in the fledgling market. Ron Glaz, senior research analyst at IDC, says there are about 30 different websites offering some sort of online processing for digital film. In such a crowded market, the involvement of two well-known Silicon Valley businessmen could be worth millions in visibility and credibility.
Clark made a name for himself and a fortune by creating three billion-dollar companies in quick succession. Michael Lewis, the zeitgeist chronicler who wrote about Wall Street in the 80s, chose Clark as the essence of Silicon Valley in the 90s in The New New Thing, his latest book.
In a recent interview on national television in the US, Clark said: "Film is going by the wayside, you know, in three years, four years, five years, there will be no film in any camera."
His bullish comments not only added credence to his new venture, they also encouraged Jim Barksdale.
Ofoto approached Barksdale days before its December 13 launch and won $16m in funding. "In a way, I felt like Clark kind of validated the market," Barksdale said.
James Joaquin, co-founder and chief executive of Ofoto, is quick to recognise the value of this new rivalry. "The fact that these very good friends are both investing in this space signals that this is a very interesting market," he says. The rivalry between these two companies and others such as photoaccess.com and snapfish.com has intensified in recent weeks.
Prices for print-quality pictures from digital film have fallen and there are several offers such as Ofoto's pledge to transform traditional pictures into digital ones to be sent via email or downloaded from the web for free.
Both Clark and Barksdale have downplayed any suggestion that the corporate competition is echoed in any personal rivalry.
Lewis's book does point to some tension between the two during Netscape's protracted battle with Microsoft. But the two have collaborated on other ventures since leaving Netscape and both have recently made large donations to their former alma maters.
Clark has refused to comment on the rivalry between the two friends but Barksdale has been relatively sanguine about it. When asked why he has not backed the same company as Clark in the digital camera war, he said simply: "He didn't ask me."
