|
iGo
- focusing on products
that keep people
powered up
and connected
Services
Retail
(Catalog Mail Order)
NASD:
IGOC
iGo
Corporation
9393
Gateway Dr
Reno, NV
89511
Ken Hawk
President
and
Chief
Executive Officer
Interview
conducted by
:
Walter Banks, Co-Publisher
CEOCFOinterviews.com
February
2001
BIO
OF CEO
Ken
Hawk is
the founder of iGo and has served as Chairman of iGo board of directors,
President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Energizing Officer since the
incorporation in March 1993. Mr. Hawk's high-tech career includes senior
management positions at Microsoft, Venture Manufacturing Singapore and
Silicon Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of TDK. Mr. Hawk holds a B.S. in
electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from
Stanford University. Ken is also a cofounder of TechAlliance@NewNevada a
nonprofit group fostering technology development in Nevada.
About iGo Corporation
iGo is a leading provider of
hard-to-find, model-specific accessories and services for mobile
electronic devices. Through their iGo.com website and customer solutions
representatives, they enable businesses and individual consumers to
efficiently identify, locate and purchase these products and services.
Their proprietary relational databases of over 8,500 items, combined with
a comprehensive industry knowledge and service expertise, create a
valuable one-stop solution for customers.
iGo has a unique business
model which offers significant benefits to mobile device manufacturers,
business enterprises, mobile professionals and other people on the go.
CEOCFOinterviews -
Mr. Hawk, please give us a history of iGo?
Mr.Hawk:
"iGo started 8 years ago as a provider of mobile accessories for
mobile computers, cellular phones and handhelds. We quickly became the
provider for mobile companies like IBM, NEC and ACER, and are now really
riding the whole mobile and wireless wave."
CEOCFOinterviews
- How do you produce your products?
Mr.Hawk:
"We design, develop and control the manufacturing of about a third of
the products we sell. The rest comes from our partners, such as IBM, NEC,
Acer, Motorola, and Ericsson."
CEOCFOinterviews
- How do you take these products to market?
Mr.Hawk:
"Several ways. We have a
direct business model, where we sell directly through our sales force on
line; we have a call center where we take orders via our 800 toll-free
number; we have a shopping application via our web site, igo.com; and most
recently we started transacting via business to business e-procurement
systems."
CEOCFOinterviews
- How does that work for you?
Mr.Hawk:
"Really well. Out of the approximately one thousand accounts, about
80%, have active e-procurement initiatives in place. Over the past two years, we have become plugged into the key
players in the market, including Ariba, CommerceOne, PurchasePro, Oracle
and others."
CEOCFOinterviews
- Do you have any competitors?
Mr.Hawk:
"The main category of the competition would be the actual hardware
manufacturers themselves, which have turned out to be more of a partner
than a competitor. If you look into the true definition of the word, they
use far more products in the accessory space than we do. We co-exist and
help each other out."
CEOCFOinterviews
- Can you tell us where you currently are in the market.
Mr.Hawk:
"The overall market for mobile accessories in Northern America is
roughly $10 billion. That
includes all the batteries, adapters, chargers, sets to plug into, and all
of the mobile devices. It is a very big, fast growing market."
CEOCFOinterviews
- How big, do you think, this market can get?
Mr.Hawk:
"I would only be guessing but, if you add the European and Asian
market, worldwide, it would probably be double the US market.
CEOCFOinterviews
- When do you expect to go into the European and Asian market?
Mr.Hawk:
"We already sell to foreign markets through our OEM partners and our
website. Our current plan is
to focus on the being the best in the US market and then move
internationally.
CEOCFOinterviews
– Does your future growth strategy include acquisitions?
Mr.Hawk:
"We made three acquisitions over the past year. They have done very
well. We are always keeping our eyes open for the right opportunity.
"
CEOCFOinterviews
– What do you look for when considering an acquisition?
Mr.Hawk:
"We look for undervalued companies with good people and good
technology, with a complimentary customer and product base."
CEOCFOinterviews
- What is your pipeline?
Mr.Hawk:
"We have 8,500 products and we are developing new products every
quarter. The areas we focus
on are products that keep people powered up and connected. Mobile devices are tough to keep powered up and the
connections are not always easy."
CEOCFOinterviews
- How many manufacturing facilities do you have?
Mr.Hawk:
"Through our supply partners, we purchase products from over 350
different manufacturing plants around the world. We really refined our
strategy over the past 8 years. It
is a combination of what we are looking to build, what the capabilities of
the potential supplier partner are, and also what the cost would feel
like."
CEOCFOinterviews
- What is your current burn-rate?
Mr.Hawk:
"Last quarter we significantly reduced our burn. We actually cut it a
half, from over $7 million in Q4 1999 to $3.3 million in Q4 2000. This
most recent quarter we reduced our advertising cost from 65% in Q4 1999 to
17% in Q4 2000 while coming close to double in sales. That is what we are
focused on: cutting advertising expenses and making profitability grow.
CEOCFOinterviews
-What is the most recent and exciting news that you would like to share
with our readers.
Mr.Hawk:
"Just in the past three months we signed a deal with ACER which is
the second largest manufacturer of the notebooks in the world. They provide notebooks for companies such as Compaq and IBM.
We are taking on their entire, very exciting accessories program, which,
has already generated revenue and profits for us."
CEOCFOinterviews
- What percentage of your revenue goes towards research and development?
Mr.Hawk:
"Roughly 8-13%."
CEOCFOinterviews
– What new product has your R&D spending produced?
Mr.Hawk:
"Most recent product that we just introduced is a portable DVD player
power adapter, that works both in the car and in an airplane. It is one of
the first products to be certified for use even in the cockpit. It gets
the highest rating available for a technical product to be used in an
airplane. Many major airlines have installed power sockets in business and
first class and you can use those sockets to run either your notebook or
your DVD player. We had a full line of notebook adapters and now we also
have a line of the DVD adapters which is a very nice product for us."
CEOCFOinterviews
- Do you have the cash and/or credit to continue to grow your company?
Mr.Hawk:
"We finished 4th quarter of last year with $20.3 million in cash and
about $27 million in working capital. We feel that is plenty to take us
through to cash break even without taking on any debt.
Therefore, the good news is, compared to most Internet companies
out there, we really are in control of our own destiny. We are building a
strong company for the long term."
CEOCFOinterviews
– Is there a final thought that you would like to leave with potential
investors and your current shareholders?
Mr.Hawk: "If you look out over next couple of years, it is
clear how big the handheld and the mobile business are going to be. I think
that making an investment in iGo is a great way to take advantage of the
growth of the mobile market without having to figure out which technology
player to invest in. Motorola used to be the king, now AKEA is the king, and
who knows who will be the king in 2-3 years.
For our company, no matter who wins, we enjoy the benefit of all this
accessory growth.” |
