FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
You Software Launched by Founder of Extensis and
Now Software
Team Includes Senior Engineers Responsible for Award-Winning
Extensis and Now Software Products
PORTLAND, ORE. - November 13, 2003 - Craig Barnes, the founder
of Extensis and Now Software, is launching a new company,
You Software, to develop and market a complete line of productivity
software that will fundamentally make the software you already
own (such as operating systems and applications) easier
to use and customize, so your computer works the way you
want it to work.
The You Software strategy is based on a proven business
model pioneered by Craig Barnes. As the founder and former
CEO of Extensis, Inc., Barnes grew a venture-backed start-up
into a leading productivity software company serving millions
of creative professionals worldwide. In 2000, Barnes negotiated
the sale of Extensis for more than $100 million in cash
and securities to ImageX, Inc., which was subsequently acquired
by Kinkos, Inc.
Prior to Extensis, Barnes founded Now Software. Within three
years Now Software grew to be the largest vendor of software
devoted exclusively to the Macintosh. The award-winning
Now Software product line included Now Utilities as well
as networked calendar and contact management software, Now
Up-to-Date and Now Contact.
"With his acumen, track record and talented technical
team, Craig has put together another winning combination,"
said Colin Crawford, Executive Vice President of Business
Development and Operations for International Data Group
and former CEO of Mac Publishing LLC. "Craig has a
gift for successfully bringing enhancement and utility software
to market that helps users get the most out of the time,
money and emotion they invest in the software they use everyday."
In addition to Barnes' personal investment to start the
company, You Software has secured a first round of financing
from SmartForest Ventures of Portland, Oregon. The investment
will fuel product development and fund marketing and sales
efforts for the You Software product line. "Our investment
in You Software reflects our excitement about Craig and
his team coming back to the Macintosh market," said
Debi Coleman, SmartForest Ventures Partner and former CIO,
CFO, and VP, Worldwide Operations for Apple Computer. "We
believe You Software is going to be a huge success because
they understand what people really need to be more productive."
The You Software Product Strategy
In the next 90 days, You Software will ship several titles
designed for Mac OS X. These initial System Enhancement
Utilities are focused on the real world needs of users and
make using Mac OS X faster, easier and more efficient. You
System Enhancements add features, enable customization and
give users more control over the power of their operating
system. You System Enhancements will be delivered both as
stand-alone products and in collections of utilities. In
addition, over the next 12 months the company will also
introduce client/server offerings that will bring You Software
productivity gains to networked workgroups.
Like Extensis and Now Software before it, the You Software
product development strategy combines internally developed
products with both publishing arrangements and acquisitions
of independently developed products and technologies. Earlier
this year You Software acquired the intellectual property
assets of PTH Software, a developer of system utilities
that have been consistently recognized as best of class
for the Macintosh operating system.
Experienced Technical Team
You Software development is driven by a talented technical
team experienced in building world-class software products.
Vice President of Research and Development, Eric Hayes,
and Chief Technology Officer, Tim Brown, are long time collaborators
with Craig Barnes. During their tenure with Extensis and
Now Software they led teams that earned dozens of industry
awards - including five Macworld Editor's Choice "Eddy"
awards and an Apple Design award. Both Hayes and Brown are
inventors of several patent-pending technologies.
Eric Hayes has 18 years experience in the systems architecture
and development of successful desktop and networked applications.
As the Director of Engineering at Extensis, Hayes led the
development of award-winning products including Preflight
Pro and Suitcase Server. Prior to Extensis, Hayes was the
principal architect and lead developer of Now Software's
Now Contact and co-author of Now Up-to-Date, the world's
best selling Macintosh personal information management software.
Tim Brown was the architect and lead engineer for several
Extensis products including the cross-platform client/server
asset management application Extensis Portfolio. At Now
Software, Brown was the lead engineer for several versions
of Now Utilities, an award-winning system enhancement utility
collection.
Paul Haddad, the founder of PTH Software, joins the You
Software technical team as a Senior Software Engineer. Haddad
has extensive experience designing software for the NEXTSTEP,
OPENSTEP and Mac OS X environments. At Apple, Haddad was
instrumental during the transition of NeXT Step technology
to the Mac OS X server environment.
Established in 2003, You Software is a developer and publisher of Mac productivity software designed to make the software you use everyday work better. For more
information and to keep informed about new product introductions please visit
the company’s website at
www.yousoftware.com.
© 2004-2008 You Software. All Rights Reserved. You Software, the You Software logo and You Control are trademarks of You Software. Mac and iTunes are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are used for identification purposes only and are the rights of their exclusive holders.