Port.ru is the Russian Internet company, the creator of a webmail service of Mail.ru. One of leaders of Runet at the beginning of the 2000th. In 2001 it is renamed into Mail.ru.
History
1995 - in the USA the Russian emigrant Evgeny Goland creates DataArt company. The hand to formation of the company was laid also by Alexey Krivenkov. Within DataArt the St. Petersburg programmers wrote the engine for web mail which was initially supposed to be replicated in the West.
1997 - Evgeny Goland became the cofounder of Mail.ru service.
November, 1998 - After half a year of work, the Russian postal service Mail.ru earned from the engine created by DataArt.
April, 1999 - Порт.ру Ltd is created
August, 1999 - The American private investors represented by Balestra Capital fund performed the first round of investments (900 thousand dollars). DataArt became the general contractor of Port.ru. Evgeny Goland received investments on Port.ru and gave them to DataArt home company.
September, 1999 - capitalization of Port.ru made 4.6 mln. dollars.
Fall of 1999 - Port.ru purchased the domain Internet.ru. This domain was included into "stop-list" RIPN earlier and in due time together with other domains from the forbidden list was offered for an auction. Alexey Krivenkov redeemed the domain from the winner of an auction – the Krasnoyarsk company Maxsoft – for 1 thousand dollars. To this address it was supposed to create image for the owner and key for the market of media.
Port.ru paid 50 thousand dollars for Music.ru. The amount of 50 times big, than in a case with Internet.ru. But on Music.ru there was already an untwisted website which became Pavel Hodakov and Sonya Sokolova. 50 thousand went to Rinet to Sergey Ryzhkov who was engaged in support of the website earlier and was the owner of the domain.
December, 1999 - investors selected Port.ru of 2.5 million more dollars. Capitalization of the company reached 27.5 million dollars.
February, 2000 - around Music.ru inflamed scandal. The domain name belonged already to Port.ru which having decided that it is easier for them to refuse Hodakov-Sokolova's services, than to agree about joint maintaining the project, decided to do the project to this address, having just discharged "co-owners". It was said in the official statement that kontentshchik after sale of a "rinetovsky" share ceased to be engaged in the website and therefore Port.ru refused their services. The piquancy of a situation was that between Hodakov-Sokolova's team and Port.ru no agreement was signed. The command believed that 50 thousand are paid for a quarter of the project. It will be as much again enclosed in the form of direct investments in the project then Port.ru will possess 50% plus one action of the project and all will live long and happily. However did not want to put in the available command and the available website Port.ru. Pavel and Sonya took away the engine and contents and left on the new domain Zvuki.ru.
To Russia there arrived Evgeny Goland. Krivenkov was displaced from a position of the chief executive on the development director. Its moving to New York was promised. He did not go to America, and with Goland did not find a common language.
The spring of 2000 - Maria Chernitskaya left the place of the director of "Порт.ру" of marketing and went to DataArt. The considerable role was played in this leaving by Maria's conflict with Nikita Korzun who came to Port.ru after a scandalous gap with List.ru and German Klimenko. Questioning which was entered on Mail.ru in due time and allowed to give then an opportunity of targeted advertizing, - Maria's child.
May, 2000 – Port.ru receives investments in the amount of 2.1 million dollars from Delta Capital Management fund. The number of employees reached 150, the number of the registered users of Mail.ru already passed for one million, and this achievement was included in the Book of records of Russia. At that time at Port.ru already were: Mail.ru, Base.ru, half of Travel.ru, Torg.ru, Postcards.mail.ru, mailing of List.mail.ru. The rating of Rating.port.ru, the forums Talk.ru and and the elite Top200.ru directory were started. In honor of the first anniversary among users of mail the VAZ 21110 car was played. It was the first car presented by the Russian Internet company to the client.
The beginning of summer of 2000 - St. Petersburg Port together with DataArt moved from expensive office on Fontanka to even more expensive to the address Serpukhov, 10, with marble ladders and other attributes of beautiful life.
July, 2000 - opened News.port.ru (the Chief Editor - Andrey Kupryakhin)
August, 2000 - the company was left by Alexey Krivenkov. As Alexey spoke later, "everything was clear and predictable". Goland bent the line and did the big company of the western type with departments and a hierarchical management system. Krivenkov who considered that such approach will ruin everything on a root preferred to take due to it as to the shareholder money and to step out. How many Krivenkov at the exit received – almost nobody knows. The amounts from 100 thousand to one million dollars are called.
September, 2000 - IBM delivers to Port.ru server iron for the amount of 1 million dollars.
October, 2000 - the agreement with Marat Safin on which t-shirt during the competitions the Port.ru logo – almost like legendary at that time Lycos with Anna Kournikova from now on had to flaunt is signed. The contract was signed for a period of three years, but was terminated ahead of schedule.
Fall of 2000 - to Golandu, by hearsay, it was refused the next tranche of investments. Port.ru for the first time started talking about what needs to be earned. The e-commerce direction within which there was never a Torg.ru project and so and Optorg.ru did not open, ate nearly a half of the "portovsky" budget. Everything became in a big way – the engine, standards, all shops of Runet under one wing. Here only to think up as to earn from it, nobody could. This problem with small losses was solved later "Yandex" and Rambler, having created Goods and Purchases.
November, 2000 - with noisy scandal of Port.ru the director of the department of e-commerce Andrey Taburinsky and the vice president for development Nikita Korzun left (the conflict received the continuation when Andrey Taburinsky took away with himself in Arrava a part of a command, having stated publicly that Port was left by the best experts in the field of e-commerce). The electronic and commercial direction on it decayed. And Port, having reshuffled top management, began to try to collect everything that it generated in one and a half years, in the uniform Port.ru portal.
On February 21, 2001 - on the terms of 50 on 50 Port.ru integrates with netBridge company led by Yury Milner. Said that netBridge still had investor money which allowed to stretch still some time. Milner who became the CEO of the united company dismissed 90% of personnel, as a result of employees in the new company there were only 40 people.
After the consolidation Port.ru and netBridge the group of shareholders led by Goland began to depart from this business, and gradually New Century Holdings, Milner and Finger redeemed shares of Goland and his partners.
The end of 2001 - the decision to refuse development of numerous brands and to focus on the most popular — Mail.ru is made, having translated under it all projects.
Links
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