David A. Steinberg

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David A. Steinberg was the founder and chief executive officer of InPhonic, an online wireless retailer based in Washington, DC. He served as the company's chairman and CEO since its inception, and he served as its president from August 2002 until March 2004. He stepped down from all management roles in October 2007.

1 Biography
2 Career
3 Quotes
4 External links

[edit] Biography

1970 Birth
1991 Graduated Washington & Jefferson College
1993 Founded Sterling Cellular, Inc.
1999 "Broked" up Sterling Cellular: Sold retail chain and telemarketing operations of Sterling Cellular
1999 Founded Inphonic, Inc.
2002 Greater Washington Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the communications category
2004 Member of the board for United States Chamber of Commerce
2007 Resigned from Inphonic before Inphonic's Bankruptcy announcement
2007 Started CAIVIS Acquisition Corp

[edit] Career

In 1993 David Steinberg founded Sterling Cellular, Inc. in the basement of his house in Bethesda, Maryland with the use of maxed out credit cards and a parental loan. Sterling Cellular grossed $1.3 million in sales its first year in business. It was a business that sold cellular phones with high quality customer service. Sterling offered free, on-time delivery and a warranty/repair program from day one and a free loaner phone program from its third month. By 1997 Sterling Cellular grew to 12 retail locations and $22 million in sales.

Recognizing the opportunity that the internet provided for selling cell phones, Mr. Steinberg broke up Sterling Cellular. He sold off the retail chain and telemarketing operations of Sterling Cellular and founded Inphonic, Inc. Over a seven year period, Inphonic grew into a the largest seller of new cell phones on the internet with over $300 million in revenue. With the rapid growth, there were growing pains that resulted in problems that could not be solved quickly. As a result, in November 2007, InPhonic filed a Chapter 11 petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Securities Fraud suits remain pending against the Company, and Mr Steinberg personally http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=119143

Following the bankruptcy of Inphonic, Steinberg secured support to start a new corporation CAIVIS Acquisition Corp. Per their website, CAIVIS Acquisition Corp is an investment firm looking to purchase small companies in the internet space and combine them in order to maximize their opportunities. Their model is "combining disparate companies into one common business allows us to leverage existing databases, create new marketing opportunities, maximize cross-pollination and publish original content based on Communities of Interest". CAIVIS acts like a holding company to achieve an economy of scale for the standard infrastructure required for every internet business: such as human resources, legal and accounting departments. At the same time there is a multiple arbitrage play in combining the smaller companies into a larger business. Small companies typically command a PE of 5 while larger companies command a PE of 10. If this company succeeds, it will be another demonstration of the opportunities that the United States provides for entrepreneurs. From working in the basement of his house with maxed out credit cards to leading and bankrupting a billion dollar corporation and now back to the starting line with another startup, Mr. Steinberg is a prime example of the term serial entrepreneur.

[edit] Quotes

"David has incredible self-confidence, every bone in his body is an entrepreneur's." —John Sculley from inc.com article

"The company has decided to use the bankruptcy laws to avoid paying back the consumers it scammed," said Harvey Rosenfield, a lawyer with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Los Angeles and who is involved in the class-action lawsuit... InPhonic is also expected to try to get out of the class-action lawsuit. But lawyers representing customers want to continue the case and expand it to include Steinberg and other former executives who they allege made millions off the deceptive rebate practices. "We want them to know we're coming for them," said Kevin Roddy, a lead lawyer in the class-action suit.^[1]

"In May, Steinberg, InPhonic and Winkler, the former CFO, were named in a shareholder class-action complaint filed in the District of Columbia's U.S. District Court. The complaint argues that the defendants "engaged in a scheme to deceive the market and engaged in a course of conduct that artificially inflated InPhonic's share price and operated as a fraud or deceit on purchasers of InPhonic shares by misrepresenting the Company's financial condition and business prospects." ^[2]