Company History

A Tale of Our Adventures in the Internet Software Business

My name is Howard Harawitz.

I am the author of an HTML editor called HTML Assistant Pro and -- together with my wife -- a founder of two Internet software companies, Brooklyn North Software Works, and EXIT 0 (zero) Digital Systems.

From the outset, I want to make it clear that I never planned to go into the software business or to become a software developer.

I wrote the first version of HTML Assistant, strictly for my own amusement, at the end of 1993, when I was on "Christmas break" from my teaching job at the Nova Scotia Community College.

My wife, Cheryl, is into Christmas in a big way. The house was full of people, mostly relatives, and I wanted to get away from the din.

I needed to do something to recreate the illusion that I was, somehow, in control of my life. So I went down to my basement hideout to assert mastery over my computer.

The Web, as we know it, was in its infancy.

The only graphic browsers for Windows were Mosaic and Cello. Neither of these are used anymore -- but both Netscape and Internet Explorer have their roots in Mosaic.

Cello, the first Web browser for Microsoft Windows, was a labor of love, written single handedly by Thom Bruce. Thom was a researcher at Cornell University's Legal Information Institute, and a really nice guy. He gave freely of his time and energy, and presided over a "Cello users" Email list that was the first and only Web browser related forum at the time. He was an active participant on the list, and a tireless correspondent with Cello users.

You can still see references to Cello in HMTL Assistant Pro 97. They were, only with great reluctance, finally removed from Pro 2000. I am still thinking of adding some kind of "Easter Egg" (that is, a "secret" series of key strokes) that will cause these references to Cello to be restored. As far as I know, Thom Bruce is still with the Legal Information Institute.

Mosaic was written by a team of programmers at NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications) at the University of Illinois. Marc Andreessen, one of the founders of Netscape, was responsible for the UNIX version. The first alpha test release of the Windows version appeared later, in the second half of 1993.

I could store both of those early browsers on a single floppy diskette. And browsers were just that -- browsers. They were not Email programs or News readers or HTML editors.

IMO, they should have stayed that way -- that is, confined themselves to browsing the Web. There were, and still are, programs that handle Email and Internet News in much better ways. And, there are, of course, excellent standalone HTML editors :-)

The birth of HTML Assistant

I wrote HTML Assistant during Christmas break in 1993 because I wanted to create Web pages for use on my own computer. My primary interest was in storing links to sites that I wanted to keep track of and revisit. Browsers did not offer anything like the folder organization for saving "Favorites" that is now part of Internet Explorer.

When the program got to a point where it seemed to be working reasonably well, I wondered if other people would find it helpful for managing links to the Web sites that they had visited. I started looking for a way to make it freely available.

During the first week in January, 1994, I decided to bring my efforts to the attention of other "webbies" by uploading it to a popular Windows software FTP site, and announcing it in a message to Thom Bruce's Cello users Email list. I described the program, and told the Internet Web community about the availability of HTML Assistant as "Freeware".

Feedback from users was nearly instantaneous. Within hours of letting people know where they could find HTML Assistant, I was getting positive responses from people all over the world, including offers to host the program, along with very helpful and friendly suggestions for improvements.

Much to my surprise, I learned that there was almost nothing else available for a user of MS Windows to create Web pages with.

Consequently, people were much more interested in using HTML Assistant for creating Web sites than they were for keeping track of their own links.

It turned out that one of the Internet's first free service providers -- the "Chebucto Free Net" -- was located right here in Halifax. At that time, they were looking for a Windows based HTML editor that their members could use for creating Web pages.

I told them about HTML Assistant, and they offered to host it at their FTP site on the computer system housed by the Computer Science Department at Dalhousie University, also in Halifax. This was very helpful because it enabled me to access and update the program very easily -- something that I was unable to do at the public access site where the program was currently residing.

I continued to work on the freeware version, known as HTML Assistant -- without the "Pro". Each, more-or-less weekly, update was very well received and brought even more positive feedback.

It was all very encouraging.

I hadn't experienced so much positive feedback or generally "good vibes" for anything else I had ever done. So, I kept adding improvements to HTML Assistant and continued to upload new versions to Dalhousie's FTP site .

The so-called "Real World" rears its ugly head

At some point, it began to dawn on me that that my income had been dropping substantially.

While working on HTML Assistant I had completely forgotten my after hours consulting practice. It was dying of neglect.

I had put so much time and energy into HTML Assistant that I had very little left for my paying clients, and they soon found others to take my place.

My wife, Cheryl, and I discussed the situation, and we decided that rather than give up working on HMTL Assistant and going back to consulting, we would set up a business in our basement and try to bring in at least part of the money we were losing, by selling the editor. That way, I could continue to work on it.

At the same time, we wanted to keep on giving away the freeware version of HTML Assistant.

In March, 1994, we inserted a "commercial" into HTML Assistant's Windows Help file.

It announced the availability of an improved version, with additional features, called HTML Assistant Pro, that could be purchased with a check, money order or credit card. We were not at all sure that anyone would notice it, and really didn't know what to expect.

The first Web page editor on the market

Again, we were surprised. Within hours of its release, our Help file "commercial" brought us our first customers. HTML Assistant Pro had become the first Web page editor on the market.

Now, we needed a company name. Since I was born in Brooklyn, NY, and had moved North to Canada, we decided to call ourselves, "Brooklyn North Software Works."

The positive feedback and good vibes continued to come our way -- this time in the form of favorable reviews, awards and accolades from computer magazines and pundits.

Esquire magazine, in one of the first popular articles about the Web, suggested that anyone thinking about putting up a Website, pick up a copy of HTML Assistant, which was developed "in Nova Scotia, of all places."

In February, 1996, the PC industry's most widely read columnist, John C. Dvorak, said of HTML Assistant Pro, that it was "used by most professionals and is considered the standard HTML editor by which all others are judged. Highly recommended. Buy it!"

In March of the same year, PC Magazine UK chose HTML Assistant Pro over offerings from Microsoft, Lotus, SoftQuad and others, giving us their "Editor's Choice" and "Usability Seal of Approval" awards.

Special versions of HTML Assistant Pro were included in the first two editions of the very popular "HTML Construction Kit" published by Sams.Net, a subsidiary of the the publishing giant, Macmillan.

Growing Pains

While all this was going on, I was still teaching full time at the Nova Scotia Community College.

I would wake up at 4 or 5 AM and go down to my basement office to respond to Email messages, organize the incoming orders, and try to do a bit of bookkeeping. I worked there until I had to leave for my "day job" at about 7:45.

When I returned, at 5 or 5:30 PM, I would eat a quick dinner, and go downstairs to the office again. I usually remained there until sometime after 11, when I would try to relax a bit before bedding down so that I could start again the next day.

On weekends I would do things like pick up supplies, arrange to have manuals printed, and work on the next release of HTML Assistant Pro.

I was, to put it mildly, becoming somewhat frazzled.

When I found myself actually discouraging people from placing orders, I realized that something needed to change. It was clear that I could no longer handle the whole thing by myself.

As usual, whenever I ran into a problem with the business, I turned to Cheryl Gillett, an extremely creative and talented executive and organizer, who happens to be my wife. And I am not just saying that -- at the time, she was the Executive Director of a social services agency in Halifax, and was also President of the Nova Scotia Social Workers Association.

Cheryl suggested we enlist the help of other family members -- her oldest son, Kieran, who was in his last year of University, on his way to becoming a police officer, and his fiance Sheri Yeadon, who was working during the day as a manager at the local hospital. We knew that they were saving up to get married, and that they could use the extra money.

Kieran and Sheri agreed to work with us, and before long, were handling the logistics of making diskettes (by hand, one at a time on a computer located in a closet in their small apartment), printing labels and manuals, packaging, and shipping. Sheri also became the company's first official bookkeeper.

What a relief! I could now devote my attention to working on the program, customer support, and my full time teaching job.

The following Spring, in 1995, Kieran graduated from University. With some trepidation, I asked him if he would be interested in handling customer support. I was hesitant because he had always maintained that he had no interest in, or aptitude for, working with computers. Sheri was the computer buff who typed all Kieran's school papers on her office word processor.

But by this time, customer support had become so demanding that I no longer had time for it myself. I thought about asking one of my Computer Technology students to take it on, but Cheryl felt, and I agreed, that we should offer it to Kieran first. To his credit, despite his early reluctance to relate to the technology, and his complete lack of experience, he agreed to give it a try.

Kieran turned out to be a natural. He learned quickly, and had no problem relating to frustrated, and sometimes angry, customers.

What a waste it would have been had he pursued his planned career as a cop.

Initially, I was also the company Public Relations person. It was me who contacted and maintained relationships with authors, reviewers and publishers. But as more and more web oriented magazines began to appear, I found that I needed help with the PR side of the business, too.

So, we asked Cheryl's daughter, Michelle, who had recently graduated from Wellesley College, near Boston, if she would be interested in the job of handling press and public relations.

I knew that Michelle would take to it the way a duck takes to water.

She agreed to do it, and she didn't disappoint us.

In spite of my backing away from our press contacts, Michelle continued to keep up those relationships and made many more new friends for Brooklyn North. Plunging into what had by then become an increasingly aggressive and competitive market with a growing number of new products clamoring for the limelight, Michelle made sure that we got more than our fair share of attention from the press. Plaudits from the pundits and a stream of positive reviews continued.

In those early days, everything we sold went out in boxes that had to be assembled, packed and delivered on time. It was always a hassle.

Getting us out from under that pile of diskettes, boxes and manuals, Cheryl's youngest son, Dan, soon became an indispensable part of our operation. It seemed that he was always available to fill in the gaps in our shaky hold on the logistics of marketing and delivering software packages.

Dan showed himself to be incredibly versatile. He started out stuffing envelopes part-time, and very quickly took on the responsibility for all our packing, shipping, and order fulfillment. When Kieran became our office manager, Dan also took over telephone sales and support. Somewhere along the way he picked up expert skills with photography, Photoshop and HTML. In addition to all his other duties, he wound up as the company's photographer, and managed to squeeze in some Web development as well.

From basement to boardroom

From the beginning, Cheryl had always had a substantial decision making and consultative role in the company. By the middle of 1995, she was clear that she wanted more of a part in the day to day operation of what was well on its way to becoming a full fledged business.

In September, she gave notice to the Board of Directors of the social services agency she was running that she wanted to take a 12 month leave of absence.

In January, 1996, Cheryl became Brooklyn North's first full time employee.

By March, sales had skyrocketed, and we needed tax protection -- Brooklyn North became Brooklyn North, Inc.

I now felt confident enough to leave my Community College teaching post to become a full time software developer.

In less than two years, with Cheryl at the helm, we generated over a million dollars in sales, with no investment and a shoestring marketing budget. We had used the Internet, exclusively, to connect with our customers.

Our customer list read like a who's who of the international intellectual, Government, and business communities. Users of HTML Assistant Pro included the United Nations, Rolls Royce, CERN, the US Library of Congress, the US Navy, the EPA, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, US National Public Radio, DEC, and Hewlett-Packard. We had also secured two major contracts with Macmillan publishing.

A few months later, in May, we opened an office in a modern office tower in downtown Halifax. It was on the 17th floor, and had a wonderful view of Halifax Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean. Eventually, we would install a Web camera at one of the windows so that we could share that view with the rest of the world.

The business was growing. Sales continued to increase. Before long, Brooklyn North had more than a dozen employees.

All of this was so exhilarating that we became caught up in some kind of Internet Goldrush Fever.

The company began to take off in a completely new direction.

Single handedly, Cheryl secured 2.5 million dollars in investment -- in Nova Scotia -- where virtually no speculative, or venture capital, exists.

In 1998, the largest corporation in the Province, Nova Scotia's telephone company, Maritime Tel & Tel, agreed to invest a million dollars in Brooklyn North, and two MT&T representatives joined our Board of Directors.

We hired a sales vice-president, and opened a marketing office near his home in Andover, MA, a suburb of Boston.

Our staff grew to more than twenty.

Brooklyn North developed and marketed two new products, <BLUEPRINT>, a Web site analyzer and repair tool, and EPS, "Email Postal Software", which evolved to become a substantial Email marketing tool called "Broadc@st".

I was now the President of a company that had offices in two countries and employed almost two dozen people, and Cheryl was company CEO.

Enter, EXIT 0 (zero)

Our involvement with Brooklyn North was one of life's genuine adventures.

We were making new friends all over the world, and had learned an incredible amount about business, the Internet, and ourselves during the course of our journey.

And we learned that it wasn't really what we wanted.

Our roles had changed. And Brooklyn North had changed.

I was still the person who came up with product ideas, and was the overall architect of Brooklyn North's software, but I was no longer involved with the software development process in a hands-on way.

Because our marketing office was in another city both Cheryl and I found that we were losing contact with the people who were buying and using our software.

But most importantly, the company's investors and new management -- all of whom, ironically, we ourselves had brought in -- were taking the company down a road we were not interested in traveling.

Once investors were on board, it seemed that the only thing discussed at Brooklyn North's Board Meetings was money. No one appeared to be concerned about how our customers actually felt about the company, or what it was like to work at Brooklyn North's offices. Yet, from the beginning, for Cheryl and I, these had always been vital concerns.

Somehow, Brooklyn North was becoming part of a world where cash and a quick profit were more important than anything else.

That was certainly not what we had in mind when we started.

We realized that we needed more control over the company's direction and goals. We also wanted more involvement with our products and our customers. Given Brooklyn North's current structure, none of that was possible.

In early 1999 -- officially, January 1 -- Cheryl and I turned responsibility for Brooklyn North's day to day operations over to our new Vice-president, who lived near Boston. He assumed both our titles, becoming Brooklyn North's President and CEO.

In September, we resigned from both the staff and the Board of Directors of Brooklyn North Software Works, and turned over controlling interest in the company to its management and remaining Board members.

We took with us the rights to our Web based products, including HMTL Assistant Pro, and the name Brooklyn North. We also kept the domain name, brooknorth.com.

The management of Brooklyn North Software Works closed its offices during the second week in November, 1999. A new company, created by the management team and remaining shareholders, was set up to market and develop "Broadcast".

Earlier in the year we had begun preparation to start our own company called EXIT 0 (zero) Digital Systems. We registered the name, and set up new offices.

During the first week in December, 1999, EXIT 0 Digital Systems opened this Web site, and it is where you'll find us from now on.

Send comments or feedback to:

Howard Harawitz