Electron economy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The electron economy is a concept analogous to the hydrogen economy, methanol economy, ethanol economy, zinc economy, lithium economy or liquid nitrogen economy but where the energy vector is electricity instead of hydrogen, methanol etc.

Electron Economy is also the name of a now-defunct internet software company founded in Cupertino, CA in 1999. The company was notable as a prototypical example of the plight of many of the "dot com" superstars founded in the late 1990's. Boom/Bust.

The majority of the company's US$87 million venture capital funding was from Softbank. Other investors included Chase Capital Partners, Flatiron Partners and Crosspoint Venture Partners. Founders included Joe Firmage and Toby Corey of USWeb.

Electron Economy was conceived as an answer to the fulfillment needs of the burgeoning "business to consumer" web (eCommerce) stores that came into being during the dot com boom.

The company derived its name from the concept of moving digital transactions through a web based (.XML) transaction-engine in order to integrate supply and demand driven systems within a supply-chain.

Electron Economy's boom/bust story included expensive marketing ploys (full-page spreads in the Wall Street Journal, 5-foot tall advertisements in major US airline hubs, custom made "superhero" statuettes); ultimately assets and intellectual property were acquired by Viewlocity, an Atlanta-based supply chain software company.