Geoworks on hotlist


SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 1996--KPMG's
Information, Communications and Entertainment (ICE(SM)) practice, helping navigate the volatile and complex digital universe, has worked with a leading industry publication to identify 250 "shining stars"-- companies that industry executives and investors should watch closely.

Produced by the editors of The Red Herring -- the monthly magazine that covers financial and investment issues in the information, communications and entertainment industries -- "The Red Herring Guide to the Digital Universe" provides an overview of digital commerce and profiles 250 companies on the leading edge of the digital environment. The book will be released April 18 by Warner Books. The companies that appear in the profiles section which makes up the book's second half were chosen based on performance metrics and company nominations provided by KPMG ICE consultants, and on interviews with venture capitalists, investment bankers, industry analysts and high-tech executives from the U.S. and overseas.

In conducting its portion of the evaluation, KPMG ICE found that traditional measurements, such as earnings growth, market share, balance sheet strength and stock performance, were not adequate for identifying the best performers in the digital economy -- capitalization, marketing savvy, management vision and the ability to respond quickly to rapid, drastic shifts in the industrial landscape counted for more. "Many of the most interesting companies are still private and in their early stages of development," Roger Siboni, national managing partner of KPMG's ICE practice, writes in the introduction to the book's company profile section. "To evaluate these companies, we needed methods that better describe their master of the continually changing environment that characterizes the digital world. In essence, we needed to establish a new performance metric for the '90s."

Starting with a pool of 1,000 companies, the list was narrowed to 250. To make the final selection, KPMG and The Red Herring looked at a range of characteristics within five main categories - assessing a company's ability to contribute to a paradigm shift (based on its technology, marketing, alliance activity and business model, among others); the quality of its management team (including vision, strategic thinking, ability to attract and retain talent, and grounding in reality); the strength of its financial resources (including cash flow, debt burden, proportion of revenues from recurring sources, and consistency of revenues and earnings); market dominance (ability to set the terms of competition and overall share or high ranking in main markets) and market potential (revenue from products introduced in the past five years, technology leadership, and ability to be first to market). Taken together, the new criteria provide a means for evaluating both large companies and young startups on an equitable basis, Siboni says.

Despite the diversity of companies included, there were common elements among the companies that made the "shining stars" list. They tended to be:

o Younger (71.2 percent were established after 1979)
o Smaller, in terms of staff, capitalization and revenue (58.8 percent had under 1,000 employees and 79.2 percent had under 10,000; nearly half -- 42.8 percent -- were privately held; 19.2 percent had annual revenues under $10 million and another 32.4 percent had none or wouldn't disclose)
o From the West Coast (61 percent)

Forty percent were entertainment companies, 36.4 percent were from the computer industry (comprising hardware, software, networking and semiconductors, among others) and 23.6 percent were communications companies.

Siboni expects readers to challenge some of the selections -- and to point out omissions. In general, he believes that the list is more significant for the success criteria, company characteristics and industry trends it identifies, than for the particular companies that are listed. "In this technology business, things change fast. Today's bright star could be tomorrow's supernova. Whether these companies would appear in future versions of the list depends on whether they can adapt quickly, assess new opportunities and shift instantly to take advantage of them," he says.

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One of KPMG's five industry-focused lines of business, the Information, Communications and Entertainment (ICE(SM)) practice provides assurance and advisory services to clients who produce content, distribution and delivery systems for the information superhighway. KPMG is the only assurance and advisory firm to dedicate a full-service line of business to these industries as a group.

KPMG Peat Marwick LLP is the U.S. practice of KPMG, the Global Leader among professional services firms. Worldwide, KPMG has more than 6,000 partners as well as 72,000 professionals servicing clients through 1,100 office in 829 cities in 136 countries. In the U.S., KPMG partners and professionals deliver a wide range of value-added consulting, assurance, and tax services in five markets: financial services; manufacturing, retailing, and distribution; health care and life sciences; information, communications and entertainment; and public services.

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The Red Herring Guide to the Digital Universe --
250 Companies to Watch
Selected by The Red Herring and the KPMG Peat Marwick Information, Communications and Entertainment (ICE(SM)) Practice

3Dfx Interactive                      Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.
3Dlabs                                Cascade Communications
Acclaim Entertainment Inc             CellNet Data Systems
Adaptec                               Centigram Communications
Adobe Systems Inc                     CheckPoint Software
Advanced Fibre Communications         Cidco
Agile Networks                        Cirrus Logic
AirSoft                               Cisco Systems Inc
AirTouch Communications Inc           CKS Group
Alantec                               Clarify
Amber Wave Systems                    Click3X (Corbett Group)
America Online                        Colossal Pictures
Ameritech Corp                        Com21
AnswerSoft                            Combinet
Apple Computer Inc                    Comcast Corp
Applied Materials Inc                 Compaq Computer
Arbor Software                        Compression Labs
Architext Software                    CompuServe
ArcSys                                Computer Associates International
Ascend Communications                 CONNECT
AT&T Corp                             Conner Peripherals
Atmel Corp                            Cox Enterprises Inc
Attest Systems                        Creative Technology
Autodesk                              Cyan
Avid Technology                       CyberCash
Baan Co                               CyberSource
Bay Networks                          Datalogix International
BBN                                   Davidson & Associates
Bell Atlantic                         Dell Computer
BellSouth Corp                        Diamond Multimedia Systems
Bertelsmann Inc                       Digital Domain
BHC Communications                    Digital Generation Systems
Bloomberg                             Discreet Logic
BOSS Film Studios                     DIVA Communications
Brilliant Media                       Dolby Laboratories
BroadVision                           Dow Jones & Company
Broderbund Software Inc               Dreamworks SKG
C-Cube                                DSC Communications
Cabletron Systems                     Dun & Bradstreet Inc

Cadence Design Systems                E/O Networks
Eastman Kodak Co                      IUMA
Edmark                                Kaleida Labs
Efficient Networks                    KLA Instruments
Electronic Arts                       Knight-Ridder
Enter Television                      Knowledge Adventure
Ericsson                              Lam Research
Excalibur Technologies                Legato Systems
First Virtual Corporation             LookingGlass Technologies
First Virtual Holdings                LSI Logic Corp
Flipside Communications               LucasArts Entertainment
FORE Systems                          Macromedia Inc
Forte Software                        Magic Edge
Four Media Company                    Magnet Interactive Studios
FTP Software                          Matsushita
Fujitsu Microelectronics Inc/FUJITSU  Maxis
General Electric (NBC)                McClatchy Newspapers
General Instrument                    MCI Communications
Gensym Corporation                    MECC (Minnesota Education Computing)
Geoworks                              Mentor Graphics Corp
Global Village Communication          Micron Technology Inc
Goldstar (LG Group)                   Microsoft Corporation
Grand Junction Networks               MicroUnity Systems
GT Interactive Software               Minerva Systems
GTE Corp                              MNI Interactive
Hearst  Corporation                   Motorola SPS
Hewlett-Packard Co                    MultiGen
@Home                                 MySoftware
Hughes Electronics                    Nashoba Networks
Humongous Entertainment               National Semiconductor Corporation
IBM Corp                              NEC
Id Software                           Netcom
Illustra Information Technologies     NetEdge Systems
Individual                            NetManage
Industrial Light & Magic              Netscape Communications Corp
Informix                              Newbridge Networks
InSoft                                News Corp
Intel Corporation                     NexGen
Interplay Productions                 NeXT Computer Inc
Intuit                                Nintendo
Itron                                 Nokia

Northern Telecom                      Seagate Technology Inc
Notable Technologies                  SEGA Enterprises
Novell Inc                            SGS-Thomson
NTT America Inc                       Shiva
NVIDIA                                Siebel Systems
Nynex Corp                            Siemens Corp
Object Design Inc (ODI)               Sierra On-Line
Objective Systems Integrators         Silicon Graphics Inc
ONSALE                                Sony Corporation of America
Open Market                           Sprint
Oracle Corp                           Spyglass
Pacific Data Images (PDI)             StarSight Telecast
Pacific Telesis Group                 Stormfront Studios
Parametric Technology                 Sun Microsystems Inc
ParcPlace Systems                     Synopsys Inc
PeopleSoft                            Taiwan Semiconductor
Performance Systems International     Tele-Communications Inc (TCI)
Personal Library Software             Teledesic
Philips Electronics NV                Texas Instruments Inc
PictureTel                            The Duck Corporation
Pixar                                 Time Warner Inc
Platinum Technology Inc               Tivoli Systems
Play                                  Toshiba
Qualcomm                              TranSwitch
Quantum                               Tribune Company
R/GA Digital Studios                  Trilogy
RadioMail                             Turner Broadcasting System Inc
RAM Mobile Data                       US Robotics
Real World                            US West Inc
Red Brick Systems                     UUNET
Remedy                                VeriSign Inc
Rendition                             Versant
Reuters Holdings                      Vertigo Development Group
Rhythm & Hues Studios                 Viacom International Inc
RSA Data Security                     Virage
S3                                    Virgin Interactive Entertainment

(Subsidiary of Spelling Entertainment)
SAP AG                                Visio
SBC Communications                    Walnut Creek CDROM
Scientific-Atlanta                    Walt Disney Co
Scopus Technology                     Whitetree Network Technologies

Wired Ventures Ltd
Worlds
Xaos Tools
Xerox Corp
Xilinx
Xing Technology
Xylan
Yahoo!
Zilog Inc

KEYWORD: NEW YORK CALIFORNIA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED PUBLISHING

INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET

APR 09,1996

Source: Post on America Online
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