- From: Mark DeWitt <Mark@TransPacificGroup.com>
- Date: Fri, 6 Jun 1997 13:23:33 -0800
- To: mimasa@vega.aichi-u.ac.jp (Masayasu Ishikawa), www-international@w3.org
Masayasu,
Are you the same Masa Ishikawa that worked at Canon and Hatnet?
Regardless, would you and or your friends be interested to live in Palo
Alto and work for very cool web related American firm? I hope so. We could
sponsor your H1 or help you get a greencard.
Thanks in advance for any help you might offer.
Roles that I seek to fill immediately.
* Japanese User Interface designer for J Web site - Job Sheet below
* Japaense web site programmers - same Job Sheet as UI designer
* Internationalization software engineers
* Mgr of Intnl Software dept - Job Sheet below
I would really love it if you could offer
1. ideas as to who might be able to do these jobs
2. names of folks that I should talk to that might know such people
Please let me know and additionally we might have a role that fits you better.
Please call me to discuss these opportunities.
Best Wishes,
Mark DeWitt
Job Sheet: Japanese UI/web site Implementation Engineers
The TransPacific Group has been retained to search out and introduce 2 new
positions to exceptional professionals who have the knowledge of the web
and a vision of the future of the internet to help build the coolest
Japanese web site possible. The web services on this site must look and
feel natural to Japanese nationals.
Background:
The WebTV Network service, launched in September 1996 in the United States,
(monthly connection is $19.95 for 33.8k) is the first on-line service that
brings high-quality and high-performance Internet access to televisions.
WebTV set-top boxes, available at consumer electronics stores (CompUSA,
Fry's, Sharper Image, Good Guys, etc.) in the U.S. for about $250 (set-top
boxes are made/sold by OEM partners like Sony and Phillips), are designed
to make the Internet simple to use, with a set-up time of 15 minutes that
allows One-Thumb Browsing of the Internet using a television remote
control. An optional keyboard is available. Email, bookmarks, searching
the web and other features are also built in.
WebTV/Fujitsu:
WebTV Networks will own 65 percent of a WebTV/Fujitsu joint venture company
and Fujitsu Limited will own 35 percent. WebTV Networks and Fujitsu will
form alliances with companies in various fields, including consumer
electronics, Internet access, media and content, to establish the new
service.
Fujitsu will build a network operation center to host network services such
as Internet access, e-mail, billing and customer support for the WebTV
Japanese network. Fujitsu will be one of the providers of access points in
Japan for the network with its InfoWeb infrastructure, as well as a
provider of content, including InterTV television listing service, the
Wildbird map-based information service and Teleparc, an on-line magazine.
The joint venture will be Fujitsu's exclusive branded service offering for
Internet applications on television.
We are looking for 2 new full time employees:
(they will work very closely with each other to make trade-offs in design,
performance, and functionality of the web-pages they create)
* Both must be willing to work in a fast-paced, sometimes chaotic start-up
environment.
* Both jobs are to be in Silicon Valley with an option of moving to Tokyo
after 3-6 months.
Job Opportunity #1 - Japanese Web site Design Artist (this job is
temporarily filled by a contractor but we still seek a permanent employee
to do this work)
Tasks :
* The first task will be to localize the US system's basic feature sets
and panels for use by Japanese consumers. This will include the Sign-Up;
the customers' very first experience with the service and a key to making a
good first impression on customers that may have no experience with
computers or web. This must be a painless and easy-to-do step for the new
customers.
* Then the real work begins; creating the coolest web-site on the web for
Japanese consumers. Customer demand and your vision will be the only
limits to the type of uses that will be made available to customers in
Japan .
* The team will be mainly responsible for 3 things: 1 good design/art
work, 2 well-written text (so writing skills are desirable) and 3 good
functionality
Responsibilities :
* This person will use tools like Photoshop to prototype new web pages.
You will be responsible for page layout and design, icon design and artwork
that is both aesthetically pleasing and fast to download. This person must
have a keen eye for good design and for what is appealing to native
Japanese customers.
Experience :
* 2 to 3 years in graphic arts; the more web experience the better
* coordination and communication skills are mandatory
* prefer a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design or related degree
* Native level Japanese language skills are a must
* Good English skills are required so that you can work effectively with
team members in the USA
* Skills with computer applications like; Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and
Fractal Designer
Job Opportunity #2 - Japanese web-site Implementation Engineer
Responsibilities :
* This person will take the prototype design/layout from the Designer and
work with that person to refine the User Interaction and User interface
form/function. You will be responsible for then building the pages using
HTML and C code.
Experience
* 2 + years in web site development or related ; the more the better
* coordination and communication skills are mandatory
* prefer a Bachelor of User Interface Design, Computer Science or related
* Native level Japanese language skills are a must
* Good English skills are required so that you can work effectively with
team members in the USA
* willingness to implement using heavy HTML and C coding over 50% of time
* Skills in programming in " C" at least at a web-site implementation
level and strong HTML
Compensation
This is a super opportunity to join a start-up with pre-public stock
options. Who knows it could turn out to be the next Netscape. Base salary
will be very competitive and will be based on the candidate's history and
experience. A full benefits package is provided.
Next Step:
In this industry everything should have happened yesterday so let's work
quickly to determine if our client represents the right next step for you.
All inquiries are to be through The TransPacific Group and are strictly
confidential. Mark DeWitt is handling the contact with our client and will
work closely with you once we've received you resume. Thank you for your
interest. You may reach Mark at The TransPacific Group. Phone (415)
327-8801 and Fax (415) 327-8802 or via Internet Mark@TransPacificGroup.com.
we much prefer you Email your resume in text or MS Word format.
JOB SHEET: draft
Mark DeWitt revised 5/21/97
Lee Mighdoll revised 5/21/97
Phil Goldman revised 5/22/97
Debra Brown to revise
Job Function: MANAGER of International OnLine Systems/Services
Background:
The WebTV Network service, launched in September 1996 in the United
States, (monthly connection is $19.95 for 33.6k) is the first online
service that brings high quality and high performance Internet access to
the television. WebTV set-top boxes, available at consumer electronics
stores (Sears, Circuit City, Good Guys, etc.) in the U.S. (for about $250
set-top boxes are made/sold by WebTV licensees Sony, Pace and
Phillips/Magnavox), are designed to make the Internet plug/play, with a
typical set-up time of less than 15 minutes that allows One-Thumb Browsing
of the Internet requiring only a typical TV remote control. An optional
keyboard is available. Email, bookmarks, searching the web and other
features are also built in.
WebTV Networks has developed key partnerships across a variety of
industries who share a philosophy and capacity to make the Internet easier,
safer and more compelling. Companies like Excite, Surfwatch, Progressive
Networks, Concentric Networks, Headspace, UUNet, Ziplink, PSI, PBS and IDT
allow the WebTV Network to be the easiest and most dynamic online service
available, TV or otherwise.
WebTV's ONLINE service
WebTV's online service is built on a distributed network of
servers, currently comprised mostly of Solaris workstations. The service
software is built around an elegant service framework built in C, SQL and
HTML templates includes web application servers, proxy servers, user
storage management, tracking and monitoring systems, messaging systems,
dialup network control, and billing.
WebTV Goes global
Earlier this year WebTV and Fujitsu announced a joint venture
partnership to bring the WebTV Network to Japan in 1997. WebTV is also in
negotiations with communications partners to bring the WebTV to other parts
of the world in the coming year.
Each system must meet the needs of the local market. This includes
underlying software that enables localization and support for local
languages. It will also require working to understand various overseas
requirements such as county specific telecommunications issues.
Additionally each market may require specific services that are unique to
that country.
The Need:
We need to build a department to perform the following functions:
Note:
We are open to hiring the various key pieces as we find people with
skills in each of the areas below.
* Lead the engineering effort to take the WebTV online system and services
to new geographies.
* Plan the staffing needs for this department and hire the right people.
This is a major area of growth inside WebTV.
* Consider the needs of WebTV partners in each country. Map out a process
by which all the systems' software is localized to for that geography.
Lead your team technically to ensure the new country is supported as it
comes online.
* Put in place processes so that bringing on the additional countries will
be easier each time.
* Track the development process to ensure that all parties are working in
an integrated way and that nothing is falling through the cracks. For
example in Japan we will need to create a billing system. Determine
whether WebTV or the partner will be responsible for implementing each part
of that billing system.
* Build systems for localizing text, user interfaces, and dialing.
* Be the lead technical contact with engineering groups outside the US.
Required skills:
1. Be capable of transferring a complex product to a technical customer
* your group must productize the customer requirements and then transfer
this technology to the customers/partners; customer requirements which
have to cover issues like text handling, billing systems, and
telecommunications issues of various European and Asia online services
2. capable of leading an engineering team
* you must lead the group technically in providing i18n
* you must build and supervise the team
* Be good at meeting development schedules and shipping ON TIME
* Have a strong technical background and understanding of
internationalization, C development, systems administration, network
support, consulting services, Unix, databases like Oracle, small company
corp. culture, etc. the more the better
* Strong planning / project management skills
* Demonstrated people management / leadership skills
* Good written communication skills
Desirable :
* Experience with complex distributed systems
* Experience with international telecommunications
* Speak Japanese, German, or French
* Online services experience
* Web/internet/HTML experience
Compensation
This is a super opportunity to join a start-up where you can make a huge
impact. Microsoft has reached an agreement to acquire WebTV but the deal
has not gone through yet. Microsoft has an incredible history of stock
price growth and so the stock options will play a major part in your total
compensation package. Base salary will be very competitive and will be
based on the candidates history and experience. A full benefits package is
provided including 401k with matching.
Next Step:
In this industry everything should have happened yesterday so let's work
quickly to determine if our client represents the right next step for you.
All inquiries are to be through The TransPacific Group and are strictly
confidential. Mark DeWitt is handling the contact with our client and will
work closely with you once we've received you resume. Thank you for your
interest. You may reach Mark at The TransPacific Group. Phone (415)
327-8801 and Fax (415) 327-8802 or via Email: Mark@TransPacificGroup.com.
We much prefer you Email your resume in text or MS Word format.
Corporate Backgrounder: WebTV NETWORKS INC.
The Internet is one of the most pervasive, far-reaching and
high-impact information tools of the 20th century. No other data-access
innovation, not the telegraph, the telephone, the fax machine or the modem,
has had as powerful an effect on global society as the Internet, which has
manifestly changed the way the world receives and processes information.
WebTV Networks Inc. is the first company to provide Internet
access, in an affordable, user-friendly format, to individuals via another
breakthrough technology of the 20th century: the television. WebTV Networks
has developed the technology behind the world's first all-in-one Internet
TV solution, the WebTV set-top box and WebTV Network service, which gives
families the world over access to the Internet through their TV's.
Consumers from all walks of life will have unprecedented access to a
virtually unlimited sphere of information, entertainment, and personal
enrichment, that can all be obtained at the touch of a button in the
comfort of their living room.
The creation of WebTV Networks by co-founder, president and CEO
Steve Perlman is actually a development which had been gathering momentum
for years. While at Atari (his first job out of college), then at Coleco
and then at Apple Computers, Perlman tinkered with the idea of somehow
providing consumers with easy access to e-mail capabilities and information
resources.
After six years at Apple, Perlman figured that he finally had the
concept to bring a revolutionary product to market when he formed his own
company, Catapult Entertainment Inc., in 1994. He created an inexpensive
modem that allowed children to play video games and communicate with one
another through a local phone line. Although kids primarily used the system
to play games, they would still average several e-mail messages a day,
which to Perlman signaled the incredible potential of such a product.
After leaving Catapult, Perlman observed the explosive growth of
the Internet, and he began to consider the World Wide Web. He wanted to
design a new consumer-oriented product which would bring communication and
information capabilities to consumers worldwide.
Having conceived of a now patent-pending technology which reduced
flicker and enhanced image quality on the TV screen, Perlman, like any true
inventor, went to his local electronics store and purchased several
thousand dollars worth of components to see whether or not it would work.
After three straight days without sleep, Perlman finished the product's
construction, and called his friend Bruce Leak in the middle of the night
to show off his creation.
When Leak arrived, he asked Perlman what he had done to his TV.
Perlman explained that he hadn't done anything to the TV, but instead had
modified the signal going into the TV. Perlman had reshaped the television
signal by going back to the original 1948 U.S. television standards to
create a digital-quality, crystal-clear picture that enhanced the overall
Internet experience on TV. It was at that moment that Leak realized the
brilliance behind Perlman's innovation, and the two agreed immediately to
start a company in order to build a product and online service around this
revolutionary technology. WebTV Networks was officially born.
Perlman and Leak, who serves as chief operating officer and
executive vice president of engineering, then brought in mutual colleague
Phil Goldman to complete the triumvirate which manages WebTV Networks.
Goldman serves as senior vice president of engineering and is the company's
supervisor of hardware and software system integration.
Getting the company to the point where it would not be considered
"just another tech start-up," was not an easy task. The company began
conducting business out of a converted Palo Alto, Calif. BMW garage under
the name Artemis Research to maintain the air of secrecy surrounding
WebTV's proprietary technology. Artemis Research, a name trademarked by
Perlman, is the moniker under which he operated for years when working on
highly confidential projects.
Perlman, Leak, and Goldman needed high-capacity phone lines with
incredible amounts of bandwidth to fine-tune the WebTV technology, and
local carrier Pacific Bell informed them the garage was in such an old
neighborhood, that these high-tech services were not available. As a
result, WebTV Networks had to call in a cable truck to run the highest
bandwidth lines commercially available into the office. WebTV Networks now
has one of the highest bandwidth Internet connections in the world, and
Perlman likes to claim that it has more bandwidth than any other "car
dealership" in the country.
Perlman, Leak and Goldman brought in an impressive group of
investors to provide the necessary operating capital, including Paul
Allen's Vulcan Ventures, Marvin Davis' Davis Internet, Brentwood Associates
and Asia Pacific Ventures. Davis, an investor in Perlman's previous
company, Catapult Entertainment, had enough faith in Perlman's next
endeavor to single-handedly supply enough venture capital for the company
to operate its first year from April, 1995 through March, 1996. Brentwood
Associates provided principal funding for the second year of operation.
Paul Allen wrote a significant check to Perlman on the spot after
witnessing a WebTV demonstration in Perlman's hotel suite at Esther Dyson's
PC Forum in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The company's July 10, 1996, "coming out" party in New York City
threw many of its competitors for a loop because of the well-maintained
secrecy surrounding WebTV's proprietary technology. In addition to the
fictitious business name, Artemis Research, WebTV's trial users were
careful not to leak any information about the company or its technology to
the media or to competitors. As a result, the world was astounded when the
company announced the creation of its product and business strategy, which
was displayed for the first time ever at the New York Equitable Auditorium,
and captured rave reviews from media and analysts alike. Although many
industry insiders had been following rumors of such technology for quite
some time, WebTV Networks was the first to bring such unparalleled quality
to a totally operational TV online service and mass market-ready set-top
box.
Perlman and his partners have struck high-end licensing agreements
with consumer electronics powerhouses Sony Electronics Inc. and Philips
Consumer Electronics Company to manufacture the set-top box for widescale
consumer distribution through their extensive distribution channels,
beginning this fall. The company added additional muscle by forging
associations with a number of leading companies, including: Concentric
Network Corp., Excite Inc., Headspace Inc., Integrated Device Technology
Inc., Progressive Networks Inc. and Surfwatch Software Inc.
As time quickly marches on, so does WebTV Networks. To extend its
position as "Internet for the rest of us," WebTV Networks is committed to
providing its customer base with added features and benefits to further
enhance the WebTV experience. Beginning in 1997, WebTV will be incorporated
into new television models, and consumers will be provided with optional
accessories, such as printing capabilities and cable modem connectivity to
further its technology.
Finally, WebTV will be working extensively with its content
partners to provide families with the most stimulating and variety-packed
content available. As for Steve Perlman and his partners, their biggest
secret is now out of the bag and consumers are now the ones staying up all
night emailing friends and family and taking advantage of the power of the
Web.
Mark DeWitt
=========================================================
The TransPacific Group (415)327-8801 phone
935 Middlefield Road (415)327-8802 fax
Palo Alto, CA 94301-3339 Mark@TransPacificGroup.com
=========================================================
visit our web site: http://www.TransPacificGroup.com/
Received on Friday, 6 June 1997 16:28:08 UTC