In 1995, Craig Pisaris-Henderson took a “calculated risk” in

the dot-com world. With just an AOL account, a slow computer and an

understanding that the Internet offered an affordable way for businesses to

market themselves, he started what would become FindWhat.com out of his Fort

Myers home. Surrounding himself with tech experts, Pisaris-Henderson set out to

uncover the best methods of finding information on the Web and helping

advertisers reach customers.

Last year, the publicly traded company generated $20.4

million in gross revenue, compared to $2.9 million in 2000. This year, revenue

is projected to top $39 million. As a pay-for-performance search engine,

FindWhat.com works like this: A company bids on keywords relevant to its

business; the higher the bid, the higher the placement on FindWhat.com’s search

results. But the company only pays when someone clicks onto its Web site.

In November FindWhat.com will expand into Colonial Bank

Plaza in Fort Myers. Pisaris-Henderson expects his staff to grow from 95 to 150

employees. Meanwhile, the company is involved in patent litigation with

competitor Overture Services, which claims that FindWhat.com and Google have

violated a patent Overture holds covering pay-per-click search engine

advertising. Pisaris-Henderson says he believes Overture’s claims will be found

invalid or unenforceable.

Last year was a success for FindWhat.com. Any challenges?

Our biggest obstacle was managing chaotic growth.

If you look at how the online marketing space has evolved,

high-fliers like Yahoo sold banners and text links by the thousands, costing

from $5,000 to $50,000. Only so many advertisers could afford the banners. We

said, “If you’re trying to open up the Internet to everyone, you have to make

it so they can afford it.” Our product costs $25 to get started. And hardly

anyone clicks on banners. If you’re using a search engine, you click on the

first listing. So if you want to make money, wouldn’t it make sense to

capitalize on the thing people are using? That’s what we did.

I had over 15,000 advertisers in fourth quarter 2001. I’ve

got the eBays, the General Motors, the Fords. Fortune 500 companies pay us

hundreds of thousands of dollars. But that’s not my core business. My core

business is opening it up to everyone.

Was that a difficult sell?

No. We are No. 2 in this sector. Overture

is No. 1. Google’s No. 3. We’ve been able to look at who’s

been using Overture’s services and ask, “How would you like to have the service

except not pay as much?” This is not a sale; it’s an order.

Is your goal for Internet users to use FindWhat.com as their

search engine?

We don’t try to get people to come to our site. We decided

to partner with search engines [including CNet, InfoSpace, MetaCrawler, Dogpile

and NBCi]. When you do a search, you get a FindWhat product. We do upwards of

30 million searches a day.

What are the advantages of being based in Southwest Florida?

This is a great place to have a customer service and sales

division. This area lowers our overhead costs. Our primary corporate address is

in New York. I’m paying a little over two times in Manhattan for a small,

quaint operation compared to the state-of-the-art, classic Colonial Bank Plaza.

Could FindWhat.com be bought out?

We’ve entertained offers. There is consolidation in the

industry; we’re not quite sure whether we’re going to be consolidated or be the

consolidator. We’re a highly profitable company and have been for a year now.

So we’re in a good position. We can pick and choose the right opportunity.