9thXchange Press Blog

Chrysalis Interactive Chooses The 9thXchange Over Apple's iTunes And Amazon.com to Create a One of a Kind, Online Leadership Channel

2007-10-04T08:21:00.000-04:00

ANN ARBOR, MI / ORLANDO FL, October 4, 2007: The 9thXchange has partnered with Chrysalis Interactive to produce the world's first digital marketplace dedicated to business leadership and mentoring content. Together they will provide the answer for what iTunes, Amazon and others can't: a fast, affordable and secure method for the sale and resale of digital content from leadership experts.

KnowledgeCrush.com, a subsidiary of Chrysalis Interactive, will provide business professionals the opportunity to download leadership and mentoring courses currently unavailable to the general public. These courses, produced by leading business and academic experts, will include content on training, consulting, guidance and other management tools.

KnowledgeCrush.com is the latest content provider to partner with The 9thXchange which provides a complete digital marketplace platform including blogging, private stores, content protection, digital encryption, storage, payment processing and worldwide distribution systems.

Unlike Apple's iTunes or Amazon.com, The 9thXchange marketplace platform creates the first resale market for anything digital. The platform automatically collects and pays royalty payments to these content creators on each transaction, even on subsequent sales between consumers - forever! The 9thXchange ensures integrity, accountability, credibility and order in the current chaotic market for distributing digital content.

"The most highly respected leadership consultants were apprehensive about producing online material because of the high risk of it being illegally downloaded," says Christa Chambers-Price, Director of Chrysalis Interactive. "Through the services of The 9thXchange, KnowledgeCrush.com provides a safe environment that protects and rewards both content providers and customers."

KnowledgeCrush.com customers are also the first to enjoy the ability to create their own online stores to sell and resell content to their clients; reaching more people than is possible by attending their training courses. A royalty payment will be issued to the original content provider every time their content is bought and sold.

Clients like Dr. Stacy Blake-Beard, a nationally recognized professor at a leading Boston college with an active consulting practice, are already on board.

"I see KnowledgeCrush.com as a forum for engaged professionals interested in gaining access to the latest intellectual and practical knowledge to help them move up their learning curve," says Blake-Beard. "Placing my material (webseminars, presentations, teleconferences and audiobooks) on KnowledgeCrush.com represents a tremendous opportunity for me to grow my practice and develop an innovative and secure source for generating new revenue."

The 9thXchange's technology also allows companies and consultants to enhance long-term productivity by providing a secure method to disseminate key system designs that are germane to their organizations.

"Marrying our digital marketplace platform with Chrysalis Interactive's vast network of leading consultants was an easy decision," states John Bonaccorso, CEO of The 9thXchange. "This opportunity not only allows mentors and leadership executives a secure way of selling their product, but also permits their customers the ability to legally resell it, acting as content distributors for their favorite mentors."

Northern Exposure - Startup Swaps Florida For Michigan; 'There Is A Lot Of Capital Here'

2007-01-22T21:27:00.000-05:00

January 22, 2007
Crain's Detroit Business
By Tom Henderson

John Bonaccorso thought he'd escaped northern winters for good when he fled Syracuse in 1987.

Up until just a few months ago, the 44-year-old figured he'd be a happy Floridian for life. He was living in Melbourne, and his high-tech company was housed in a business incubator at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.Today, he has chosen to move his company, 9thXchange Inc., which allows people to sell a wide range of digital content at www.9thx.com, to Michigan.

It was, to his surprise, a move he made willingly, in part to get close to recent investors. Seventeen of his 25 employees are here working out of their homes and apartments while he looks for office space in Oakland County and Ann Arbor.

He's getting used to wearing a down coat, but he hasn't yet gotten used to the fact he's taken this plunge, a plunge that comes with doubts and second-guessing.

"They wined me and dined me, but will they still love me once I'm here?" he said of Michigan Economic Development Corp. business recruiters who successfully brought him to Ann Arbor in November on a recruitment trip.

Bonaccorso said a proposed incentive package was discussed with MEDC officials, but he said he has put it on hold while negotiating offers with venture capitalists and choosing a location for his company.MEDC President James Epolito was out of the country Friday and unavailable for comment.

Other questions, Bonaccorso said, are:

- As he needs to hire tech staff, will he be able to recruit people to Michigan, with its rust-belt image? And will Silicon Valley types be willing to endure its winters?

- What will be the impact of Michigan's higher labor costs compared with those in Florida?

- Will he encounter the us-versus-them culture he has heard so much about in Michigan? Already, he said, early hires seem to have the mentality that they are on one side and management on another. "It's shocking. ... I have to try to train them that it's our company. You own it, too."

- A troubled local housing market. "Sure, you can say housing is cheap, but people still want to feel they can make money when they sell. People would rather be in a rising housing market."

9thXchange stores data for customers who set up online stores to sell anything digitized, including, say, public-domain compilations of Thomas Edison films, clips of old TV shows, how-to or follow-along DVDs made by fitness experts or chefs, quirky or interesting home and amateur videos, cartoon shorts, ring tones and independent films. Download prices typically ranging from 69 cents to $1.69, with 9thXchange getting a small piece of each transaction.

The creators of the content get royalties on sales.

David Spencer, executive director of Oakland University's business incubator, heard a presentation by Bonaccorso at the Great Lakes Angels' monthly meeting in December. Two weeks later, they met to discuss 9thXchange becoming a tenant.

"9thXchange appears to have a very unique digital-content distribution business model," said Spencer. "It's a new model that appears to have significant business potential ... but we haven't yet conducted our own proof of concept and proof of product. We are in the process of determining the company's interest in becoming an incubator client, and I'll be delighted to hear back from him."

Bonaccorso said Ann Arbor seemed a shoo-in for his headquarters but that he is considering Rochester Hills following his meeting with Spencer.

Terry Cross, an early investor in Google who is now entrepreneur-in-residence at Wayne State University, also listened to Bonaccorso's pitch for capital at the December meeting of the Great Lakes Angels, an investor group that meets monthly.

"I love the company. I absolutely love it," he said that night. "I was the second person here, and I told John, 'I want to see your complete business plan.' It's going to be the ultimate sticky site. Stickiness like you can't believe. It's a great opportunity."

A month after the meeting, Cross has yet to invest. He said he is meeting with another prospective investor this week to discuss the company. "I need to learn a little more about it before I put up any money," he said.

Bonaccorso, who showed a slide projecting revenue to grow from $1.5 million this year to $27.1 million in 2008 and more than $400 million in 2011, told the gathering that he had already raised $500,000 and was looking for $250,000 to carry him over to a larger upcoming round of venture capital.

He says two deals grew out of that meeting, with other deals possible. "We're not quite to $750,000 now," he said.

He said he has had offers from three venture-capital companies, two in Michigan. One VC firm in Ann Arbor wants the company there. The out-of-state company will let it stay here if it invests. He plans to retain a majority stake.

He said he expects the first round of VC funding will be about $3.5 million with a second round of about $10 million late this year.

"Right now the digital media space is so hot. I've been getting unsolicited calls from hedge funds, but I tell them, 'The company's not for sale. I'm looking for investors.' "

Bonaccorso said that without any advertising and mostly by word of mouth, traffic has grown to more than 300,000 page views a day.

This is Bonaccorso's third Internet company. In 1999, the first company, ePort Inc., backed by $1 million in money from angel investors and $1 million in hardware and support services from Apple, began offering Internet access. It installed its first pay-to-use terminal in the lobby at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel in Orlando. Bonaccorso sat there watching for his first customer. At 9 p.m., a man walked up, read the instructions and got online.

"He didn't know we were watching. I think we made like $12 off him, and then we came up and grilled him for an hour about it," recalled Bonaccorso. He said the company was quickly in the black, but his backers in Miami differed with him on how to expand the business.

He says they agreed to part ways and he quit early in 2000. "I sat on the couch depressed for two weeks. I cried as much as when anyone in my family died," he said.

Bonaccorso then started Scorecard USA as an online community of amateur sports enthusiasts. In the heady, go-go days of the Internet, he was quickly able to get $4 million in venture capital, with a promise of another big investment round in September 2000.

He said he hired 40 employees and launched the site with 200,000 members, thanks, in part, to tie-ins with the U.S Olympic Committee and various large marathons around the country. It was just in time for the market crash in April and the collapse of the tech-heavy Nasdaq stock exchange.

It soon became clear there would be no September infusion of cash, and in June, Scorecard USA had what Bonaccorso calls its Black Friday, laying off 25 employees. His investors decided the company should refocus as a seller of data-collection software.

"I sold one license, hated it and quit," said Bonaccorso, who went on a Carnival cruise to cheer himself up.

On the cruise, he got the inspiration for 9thXchange, rented a ship computer for $18 an hour and wrote up a business plan. "It all just came to me."

But with markets in collapse and the Internet a dirty word for investors, he put his business plan on hold and did freelance marketing and consulting.

Last July, with the encouragement and offer of financial support from a relative in Plymouth, he incorporated 9thXchange in Florida. He then found an office in the tech incubator in Orlando and launched a beta-version Web site in September.

On Oct. 11, he was visiting a friend in Michigan who was having a birthday. She'd been invited to a friend's house in Novi to celebrate, and she took Bonaccorso with her.

The house belonged to Bernie Shinkel, who, serendipitously enough, is manager of Huntington Bank's New Economy Fund, a mutual fund focusing on new technologies and content. Bonaccorso talked about his business, Shinkel asked some questions and soon was on board as an angel investor, the first angel investment he's ever made.

"I found the 9thXchange fascinating," said Shinkel. "He's got a company at the right place at the right time. The digital content market is just starting to see an explosion of demand. They've put together a technology that's not easily replicated and could be a prime mover in the marketplace."

Soon after, Bonaccorso got an invitation to attend a weekend in Ann Arbor on Nov. 4-5 sponsored by the MEDC and Ann Arbor Spark, a business-support group. Highlights were the Royal Shakespeare Company and a University of Michigan football game.

"I said, 'I'm interested. I'll come, but I'll never move my company to Michigan,' " recalled Bonaccorso.

To his shock, he began thinking of life back north. It wasn't the Shakespeare, it wasn't UM's exciting win over Ball State University, it wasn't the wining and the dining. It was, said Bonaccorso, "all the people here coming up to me saying, 'We really want you to come here.' People here just really love their state. You hear all the bad stuff, but then you come here and people are so open about how much they love it here. And how much they really want you here. I couldn't believe it. I was blown away."

But there was a more pragmatic reason than feeling the love: He discovered "that there is a lot of capital here that doesn't know where to go." There are, he said, a lot of aging baby boomers who had done very well in their careers, have a taste for some risk in their investment portfolio and don't have as many start-up investment options as high-net worth individuals in other regions.

"It really was the capital available," he said.

Florida Technology Company Relocating To Michigan

2006-12-19T16:34:00.000-05:00

Thursday, December 14, 2006

ANN ARBOR Here's a story you don't read everyday. An up-and-coming technology company has moved from Florida to Michigan. 9thXchange, an eBay-like company that sells digital files that could include music, audio and video, will relocate from Melbourne, Florida, to Ann Arbor.
Read full article...

9thXchange Appears in Crain's Detroit Business

2006-11-14T12:31:00.000-05:00

As CEO John Bonaccorso evaluates options for where to establish 9thXchange bricks and mortar, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) is using all the means at its disposal-including Shakespeare and football-to show off the state as a great place to do business with an unusual combination of business, leisure, and cultural assets.

Measure for Measure, MEDC Does Well, by Mary Kramer, Crain's Detroit Business, November 13, 2006.

Company Takes on iTunes with First-of-Kind Digital Stores

2006-09-25T17:30:00.000-04:00

ORLANDO, FL, September 25, 2006: The 9thXchange today announced the successful launch of its Beta site, www.9thX.comwhere digital content owners and consumers can now buy and sell files with confidence in a fully-functional digital marketplace. Additionally, the site allows each member to have their own store allowing members for the first time to legally re-sell content. The Company's platform ensures content owners are provided royalties on each sale and re-sale. The 9thXchange has led the way with the only true, end-to-end digital marketplace that handles all transactions between buyer and seller. This includes secure file transfers, payment collection and disbursement of funds to seller and royalties to the original content owner.Content creators can instantly create their own storefronts where they can easily upload and manage their content. Buyers can leisurely browse these stores or quickly search for a specific topic or genre to purchase content and build their own personal library. Collectors looking for unique, rare or vintage digital material can also purchase limited edition content protected by digital rights management technology (DRM) which ensures the authenticity of the files. The 9thXchange has pioneered the concept of limiting supply below demand to create buying and selling opportunities not currently available."This is a day to celebrate the beginning of a digital revolution," says John Bonaccorso, President and CEO of The 9thXchange. "We have created a truly unique marketplace that not only finally provides buyers a safe way to purchase and re-sell content but also protects the intellectual property rights of the content owner and provides them with royalties forever."

The 9thXchange and Microsoft Ink Agreement to Provide Online Store for Windows Media Player

2006-08-07T12:30:00.000-04:00

ORLANDO, FL, August 7 2006: The 9thXchange today is proud to announce an agreement with Microsoft Corporation to provide a 9thXchange online store within Microsoft's Windows Media Player. Aside from giving users a familiar interface, the move to a WMP-based store enables The 9thXchange to make its online digital store offerings available to a wider audience.

The online store will be available within the newest release of Windows Media Player 11, which is scheduled to be offered in Q4 '06. "This is an excellent opportunity for us," said John Bonaccorso, President and CEO of The 9thXchange. "We are excited to make our unique digital marketplace available to the hundreds of millions of users of Windows Media Player."

The 9thXchange Reveals Plans for Labor Day Launch of Beta Website

2006-06-05T17:00:00.000-04:00

ORLANDO, FL, June 5, 2006: Today, The 9thXchange disclosed plans for a launch of its Beta website, www.9thX.com, on September 4, 2006. The release date will mark a milestone in the development process that started over a year ago.

The Beta site will allow consumers for the first time anywhere to legally buy and sell all types of digital media. Additionally, content providers will capture royalties on each transaction, which provides the essential end to end solution missing from today's sites like iTunes and YouTube.

The 9thXchange's Beta site will also allow content providers to easily upload their content into their own storefronts to create a one of a kind, fully-functional marketplace.

"In this business, timing is everything," said John Bonaccorso, President and CEO of The 9thXchange. "I envisioned The 9thXchange concept years ago, but knew we had to wait to deploy our site until the time was right for the market. In fact, sites like MySpace, YouTube, and iTunes have actually helped us educate the consumer over the past six months. I believe the digital market will explode in 2007 and The 9thXchange will be there to capitalize on it.".

The 9thXchange Taps Shaw as Director of Enterprise Program Management

2006-05-12T17:20:00.000-04:00

ORLANDO, FL, May 12, 2006: The 9thXchange, Inc., an Orlando-based company, is proud to announce that Charlie Shaw has joined as Director of Enterprise Program Management.

In this role, Mr. Shaw will implement and support project management methodologies to deliver projects faster, cheaper, with higher quality, and within estimates and expectations. He will utilize these abilities to help promote the expansion of The 9thXchange, the first new media, multi-platform, all digital file marketplace backed by a unique perpetual royalty system.

John Bonaccorso, President and CEO of The 9thXchange states, "The evolutionary nature of our proprietary system will continually grow and advance and with Mr. Shaw's vast global project management experience, we will have the ability to quickly and efficiently accomplish these enhancements."

In addition to a full career in the U.S. Army, Mr. Shaw has enjoyed consulting for companies and customers such as, AT&T, Stratner, Sprint, Cellular One, Verizon, U.S. West, Convergys Corp. InterVoice-Brite; Beach Technologies; CTI (Puerto Rico); IUSACELL (Mexico); SINGTEL (Singapore), the Royal Thai Armed Forces, and Binariang (Malaysia).

As a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Mr. Shaw is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, with a BS degree in Engineering. He later completed a Masters Degree in Management from Webster University.

The 9thXchange Announces Rasmussen as Chief Operating Officer

2006-04-18T17:00:00.000-04:00

David Rasmussen has joined The 9thXchange, an Orlando-based Company, as Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Rasmussen brings over forty years of business and technology management expertise to help senior management improve the business value of people. He will utilize his abilities to help promote the expansion of The 9thXchange, the first new media, multi-platform, all digital file marketplace backed by a unique perpetual royalty system.

John Bonaccorso, President and CEO of The 9thXchange affirmed, "Mr. Rasmussen's vast knowledge of business, technology, and infrastructure management is unsurpassed. Additionally, not only can he administer the technology, but also foster teaming among the people who develop it."

Prior to joining The 9thXchange, Mr. Rasmussen has enjoyed executive business positions that include over twenty years with InterVoice-Brite (telecommunications) and Digital Equipment Corporation (computer systems), with P&L responsibilities for business units of over $100 million in revenue. In technology management, he has served as CIO for Brite Voice Systems (telecommunications) and CFX Corporation (banking) and as Strategic Systems Officer for ReliaStar Financial Corporation (insurance). He served as IT Director for Digital's Worldwide Sales and Marketing Group and is a graduate of the University of Denver.

Orlando Company Pushing Digital Sales Beyond Apple's iTunes

2006-04-11T14:12:00.000-04:00

The 9thXchange, Inc. announces the first new media, multi-platform, all digital file marketplace backed by a unique legacy royalty system. It is the most robust offering that provides the first controlled and verifiable marketplace for the sale, re-sale and exchange of all types of digital merchandise. Unlike iTunes, The 9thXchange offers sales and re-sales between consumers of multimedia files, software, music, games, cartoons, documents, and digital memorabilia, regardless of platform, file type, or creator, thereby creating a universal trading environment.

"Now content companies can allow consumers to treat content as a "product" and to sell and re-sell their content. These companies will reap an unimaginable amount of new revenue in the very content they are now restricting," states John Bonaccorso, CEO of the 9thXchange. "We challenge content providers to think about their content in a new way. Instead of a licensed product that they need to prevent their customers from sharing and re-selling, we want them to see the enormous resale value their products can bring."

"I witnessed the battle between content companies and their customers for five years and realized that there had to be a better way for content companies to sell their content and make more money, while allowing consumers to truly own buy and re-sell that content," said Bonaccorso. "We took it upon ourselves to do something about the way digital content is bought and sold."

The 9thXchange offers companies the backend infrastructure and support to launch their own branded digital merchandise marketplace on their own web sites. Files can then be auctioned, sold, and re-sold through either the private label website or The 9thXchange's retail website (www.9thX.com). This creates cross-level marketing opportunities for all.

The 9thXchange has also been a key proponent in encouraging greater protection for content providers while granting consumers more rights as well. Working with Hollywood, Silicon Valley and major content providers, we are at the forefront of successful efforts to extend the transparency of digital content sales throughout the Internet community.

Local Technology Company Continues to GrowThe 9thXchange Names Dusseau as Vice President of Marketing

2006-03-28T16:15:00.000-05:00

Michael Dusseau has joined The 9thXchange, an Orlando based company, as Vice President of Marketing.

Mr. Dusseau will utilize his 15 years experience in senior level marketing to promote the launch and expansion of The 9thXchange, the first new media, multi-platform, all digital file marketplace backed by a unique perpetual royalty system. Additionally, he will oversee all corporate communications, develop innovative affinity and member acquisition programs and assist with identifying new content providers.

John Bonaccorso, President and CEO of The 9thXchange stated, "Mr. Dusseau possesses a well-rounded marketing acumen that is rarely found in today's businesses. His forward thinking and competitive mindset dovetails perfectly with our company's goals and philosophies."

Prior to joining The 9thXchange, Mr. Dusseau held executive level marketing positions in telecommunications and has enjoyed being a marketing consultant for industries such as direct mail, publishing, textiles, and software development. Mr. Dusseau also volunteers on the Advisory Board Council for the University of Central Florida's Small Business Development Center and acquired his Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York.