Email this page  Print this page  del.icio.us  digg

Too tough to die

Contrary to rumors, Quepasa.com is alive and hopes to thrive.

"Cool. Sexy. Proud."

Quepasa.com’s new marketing slogan describes the Internet pioneer’s latest resurrection and target audience: Hispanic, bilingual, young, hip and happening.

The Quepasa Corporation, once one of the richest of the late ’90s dotcom boomers before it went bust, has taken the success model of MySpace.com and recast itself as a Web hangout for young Web users. MiGente.com, an online community targeting English-speaking Latinos, uses a similar model.

"Today Quepasa is an entertainment company, and creating a community for people who want to connect and be entertained is what we are going to provide them," says Rob Stearns, CEO of the Internet company in the Scottsdale Airpark.

Stearns says Quepasa’s slogan is aimed at U.S. Hispanics and reflects "how our community perceives themselves." The format is aimed at Latinos ages 14 to 30. "Those are the people who are Internet empowered. They are today’s decision-makers and tomorrow’s leaders," he says.

Quepasa users now sign up for free membership registration, which allows them to chat and make new friends, get an e-mail address, share photos, express opinions and participate in a wide array of entertainment and promotional events and contests.

In addition, Stearns says that interactive content will reflect members’ interests, ranging from entertainment news to news articles on different aspects of the Latino culture. The Web site, www.quepasa.com, introduced streaming radio and video earlier this year. He says the Web site’s new look and format will debut this month.

TURBULENT HISTORY

Quepasa.com was born to high hopes that ended with its stock prices crashing in 2001. In 1997, Phoenix millionaire Jeffrey Peterson founded Quepasa.com, one of the first Web sites targeting Hispanics. Soon the charismatic Peterson had enlisted sports mogul Jerry Colangelo to raise millions in start-up investment. Then-Suns star Jason Kidd and former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway were big investors. Singing star Gloria Estefan signed on as Quepasa’s official spokesperson. Quepasa billboards were located in almost every major city, and millions of Hispanics used the site.

Peterson took the Internet company’s stock public on June 24, 1999, during the height of the dotcom investor frenzy. By the end of the day, Quepasa was worth $55 million. Phoenix began to be seen around the world as a city where the "portal for all things Hispanic" was located, and where Internet innovation was taking root. A year later, Quepasa was identified as the most popular online destination for U.S. Hispanics, ahead of competitors Starmedia and Yahoo! Español.

Then things went from sweet to sour for Peterson and his bright idea. Gary Trujillo, the CEO Peterson brought on to run Quepasa, led a successful effort to oust the founder from the company in a board coup.

But Quepasa-mania under Trujillo did not last. The stock, which peaked in 1999 at $30 per share, was worth a penny a share by 2001. The company went bust in what was one of the biggest business debacles of the dotcom craze, losing a total of $90 million between 1999 and 2000.

Gerardo Higginson, media and community relations liaison to Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, was one of many Latino journalists who worked for Quepasa’s headquarters in downtown Phoenix during its heyday.

"It was a very exciting time," he says from his 11th floor office at City Hall. "The work environment was very diverse, with journalists from Peru, Mexico, Central America," he recalls.

Like many employees, Gerardo had invested his own money in the company, and lost financially when the stock prices crashed.

Still, Higginson says, "I hope Quepasa does revive."

THE COMEBACK

Peterson did regain control of Quepasa, which now has a plant in Hermosillo, Mexico. New investors, a shake-up of staff, and shifts of business strategies from a "portal" to search engine to bilingual social network has allowed Quepasa to survive with the hope to soon thrive, says Stearns, who also teaches finance at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

"Quepasa is positioned beautifully as a high-growth, acutely focused online community. We plan to continue to build traffic, grow profitable revenues and make Quepasa the most important Hispanic online community in the world," says Stearns.