Speakeasy
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
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Sections to complete：02 · 05
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Speakeasy was a broadband internet service provider and voice-over-IP carrier based in Seattle, founded in 1996 by Michael Apgar. It won a loyal following among tech-savvy users with unusually liberal terms of service that let home subscribers run servers and resell connectivity through a service called NetShare, plus early support for Linux and BSD operating systems - it was reportedly the first provider to ship a customized Mozilla Firefox to customers, in January 2005. The company later shifted toward small-business voice and data services, growing to more than 30,000 small business customers nationwide. Best Buy acquired Speakeasy in 2007; in 2010 MegaPath bought it from Best Buy and combined it with Covad, retiring the Speakeasy brand.
02 / FAILURE REASONS
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Acquisition
Speakeasy was acquired.
- Company founded
Speakeasy was founded.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN / AFTERMATH
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