Egreetings

In the late 1990s, the internet was booming, and new business models were emerging daily. One of the most popular was the concept of the electronic greeting card. Founded in 1998 in San Francisco, Egreetings Network entered this burgeoning market, offering users a way to send digital cards for holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions. The business model was simple: provide free e-cards and generate revenue through online advertising. The company quickly gained traction, and by September 1999, its website was attracting over 9.6 million visits and sending out approximately 3.4 million digital greetings per month. Riding the wave of the dot-com bubble, Egreetings secured significant equity financing from investors, including Altos Ventures Management and Pritzker Group. The company's growth culminated in a major financial event: an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in December 1999. On its first day of trading, the company was valued at over $350 million. However, the success was short-lived. The company faced stiff competition from rivals like Blue Mountain Arts and the dot-com crash in the early 2000s led to a sharp decline in advertising revenue. By 2001, in a dramatically shifted market, Egreetings was acquired by American Greetings for approximately $28 million. This was a fraction of its IPO valuation, marking a swift change in fortune. The company eventually became defunct in February 2016.