Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Storage

    Equity Firm to Squeeze Profit Out of WinZip

    By
    Lisa Vaas
    -
    July 18, 2005
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Vector Capital announced on Monday that it has purchased WinZip Computing Inc., maker of the ubiquitous file compression download that ranks near the top of the list of most popular downloads and that even predates the Internet itself.

      Chris Nicholson, a partner at San Francisco-based Vector Capital, said WinZip gets downloaded some 500,000 times a week. It has been downloaded a total of about 149 million times, and its customer base is estimated to number more than 100 million worldwide.

      But WinZip, while profitable, has a lamentable amount of customers who abide by the companys honor system and shell out $29 after the 30-day free trial, Nicholson said. “Not many people as a percentage of users actually pay,” he said.

      A major part of the equity firms strategy to turn WinZip into a more profitable company is to strongly emphasize that the software is not free and that, if users like it, they should pay. “Its one of those ubiquitous things, one of these things everybodys got on their desktops. But its not free. I have to shout from the rooftops, its not free,” Nicholson said.

      The other part of the firms two-pronged strategy is to add functionality to upcoming versions so that customers feel it will be worthwhile to pay for more features.

      Vector is a private equity boutique that specializes in buying up companies that have established customer bases and then improving their performance. An example of its past work is its investment in Corel Corp., maker of WordPerfect, CorelDraw and Paint Shop software. Vector turned Corel from a company that had been leaking money into a profitable shop by doing things like adding other acquired technology to its mix, such as the formerly shareware program Paint Shop Pro, from Jasc.

      Likewise, Vector has already been working to enhance WinZip. Vector purchased WinZip in January and since then has quietly been improving basic compression functionality to make files smaller. Vector has also added automation and scripting to make repetitive actions faster. A major upgrade is expected “real soon now,” Nicholson said.

      Nicholson said that the purchase agreement with WinZips previous owners stipulated that Vector had to keep things quiet to ensure a smooth transition with the user base, the management team and employees of the small company. Based in Mansfield, Conn., WinZip was founded in 1991. It has fewer than 50 employees.

      The equity firm has also released a new product called WinZip Companion for Outlook 1.0. It automatically compresses attachments to Outlook e-mail, saving users “bandwidth and time and annoyed messages from IT saying your in-box is too full,” Nicholson said. Outlook Companion is a “simple idea, but if everybody used it, the world would be a better place,” he said.

      Vector has also inked a co-marketing deal with Google Inc. to enhance both companies distribution. The agreement calls for WinZip to distribute Googles toolbar and desktop search.

      Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis on enterprise and small business storage hardware and software.

      Lisa Vaas
      Lisa Vaas is News Editor/Operations for eWEEK.com and also serves as editor of the Database topic center. Since 1995, she has also been a Webcast news show anchorperson and a reporter covering the IT industry. She has focused on customer relationship management technology, IT salaries and careers, effects of the H1-B visa on the technology workforce, wireless technology, security, and, most recently, databases and the technologies that touch upon them. Her articles have appeared in eWEEK's print edition, on eWEEK.com, and in the startup IT magazine PC Connection. Prior to becoming a journalist, Vaas experienced an array of eye-opening careers, including driving a cab in Boston, photographing cranky babies in shopping malls, selling cameras, typography and computer training. She stopped a hair short of finishing an M.A. in English at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She earned a B.S. in Communications from Emerson College. She runs two open-mic reading series in Boston and currently keeps bees in her home in Mashpee, Mass.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×