FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 1998
BLUE WORLD 12th FASTEST GROWING TECHNOLOGY COMPANY IN WASHINGTON
Industry Awards Blue World as One of Washington State's Top 50 Technology
Companies
BELLEVUE, WA - September 15, 1998 - Blue World Communications, Inc. last
week received the coveted Fast 50 award for its outstanding revenue growth
over the last five years. Presented by Deloitte & Touche with co-sponsors
Piper Jaffray and NASDAQ, the Washington Technology Fast 50 competition
honors the leading high-growth technology companies in Washington. Past
recipients include Microsoft, Visio Corp. and virtually all leading
software companies with headquarters in the state of Washington. With five
year growth in revenue at over 1500%, Blue World was cited as the 12th
fastest growing technology company in the state of Washington.
"We attribute our success to our market-leading Web database middleware
technology, targeted online and print-based marketing, rapid development,
rapid response to customer requests and community building activities
within our niche market", said Blue World founder, president and CEO Bill
Doerrfeld. "With the forthcoming release of the much anticipated Lasso 3
Product Line, Blue World is well positioned for additional substantial
growth in revenue through 1999 and beyond."
History of Blue World
Since its inception in 1992, Blue World has rapidly adapted in order to
capitalize on significant opportunities in a rapidly changing marketplace.
Blue World was originally conceived as a consultancy specializing in
computer-based graphics production and design and computer training and
troubleshooting. In response to eminent opportunities within the Internet
arena, Blue World evolved its focus in 1994 to provide website development
services. Blue World quickly established a leadership position in custom
Web database consulting services using market leading FileMaker Pro.
Recognizing an opportunity to present a superior tool to simplify and
dramatically increase Web-enabled database performance, in 1996 Blue World
released its Lasso FileMaker to Web connectivity tool.
Soon after Lasso's release, Claris Corp. (now FileMaker, Inc.) indicated
interest in acquiring Lasso technology. Blue World and Claris completed an
acquisition and cross-license agreement in early 1997. Blue World continued
to aggressively develop Lasso technology releasing major upgrades in July
and December of 1997.
Despite its rapid evolution since 1992, Blue World has maintained
profitability in each year of operation.
Substantial Growth Despite Downward Trends
As a Mac OS-based consultancy and then developer for Mac OS Internet
software, contrary to negative industry trends caused by woes affecting the
creators of the Mac OS, Blue World has experienced dramatic award-winning
growth. With the recent rebound at Apple Computer and expectations of
renewed interest in the Mac OS as a robust, secure, powerful Internet
server platform, Blue World expects significant continued growth with its
Mac OS Internet products.
New Opportunities
In July, 1998, Blue World announced the forthcoming release of its most
significant new software offering to date, the Lasso 3 Product Line. This
new product line marks Blue World's entry into the lucrative Windows NT and
Windows 95/98 markets and expands Lasso technology to work with any
database via industry standard ODBC communication. The modular architecture
in Lasso 3 also provides Blue World the opportunity to release new modules,
thereby gaining additional revenue from existing as well as new customers.
"We believe the modular architecture in Lasso 3 technology positions us
well to grow and adapt as Internet standards and competitive pressures
evolve," said Bill Doerrfeld. "We're also confident our open standards
approach will best serve our customers long into the future."
About Blue World Communications, Inc.
Blue World Communications (http://www.blueworld.com) provides the Lasso 3.0
product line in fulfillment of its mission of "bringing business to the
internet." Blue World, based in Bellevue, WA, is a privately held company
founded in 1992.
Media Contact:
Bill Doerrfeld, President & CEO
Blue World Communications, Inc.
425.646.0288, bill@blueworld.com