Businessweek

Geeknet, Inc. operates as an online network for the global geek community comprising technology professionals, technology enthusiasts, and general consumers of technology-oriented goods, services, and media. Segments The company operates through two segments, e-Commerce and Media. e-Commerce This segment, consisting of ThinkGeek, Inc., sells geek-themed retail products through the company’s ThinkGeek.com Website. The company offers a range of products in a single Web property than are available in traditional brick-and-mortar stores. It introduces a range of new products to its audience on a regular basis, and develops and sells its own ‘Geek Labs’ custom products. Its customers are able to buy electronics, toys, gadgets, apparel, edibles, and other specialty items with a single check-out. Media This segment includes a network of Websites targeted at information technology enthusiasts, managers, and decision-makers. The company connects various influential technology professionals and technology enthusiasts. Its Websites serve approximately 47 million visitors per month worldwide. Technology professionals and enthusiasts turn to its Media sites to create, improve, compare, and distribute Open Source software and to debate and discuss issues facing the technology community. This segment is supported by business to business technology advertisers who want to reach its audience of visitors. Its Websites are as follows: SourceForge provides the Open Source community with a peer production platform to develop, host, and distribute Open Source software worldwide. The majority of the company’s traffic originates from countries outside the United States. SourceForge served 38.6 million visitors in December 2011. Slashdot serves technology professionals and technology enthusiasts with peer-produced and peer-moderated technology news and discussion. Slashdot’s lively on-line conversations and interactions utilize its comment and moderation system. Slashdot served 3.8 million visitors in December 2011. Freecode indexes downloadable Linux, Unix, and cross-platform software for a worldwide IT audience. Freecode served 0.5 million visitors in December 2011. Sales and Marketing The company sells display advertising and lead generation programs on its Media Websites through its United States and United Kingdom based direct sales organizations, ad networks (primarily Google Inc.’s AdSense for Content) and international representatives in Europe, Australia, and Asia. Its direct sales force is distributed across the United States. Intellectual Property Rights Geeknet, SourceForge, Slashdot, ThinkGeek, Freecode, and their associated logos are some of the company’s trademarks that it uses in the United States and in other countries. Seasonality The company’s ThinkGeek e-Commerce business is highly seasonal, reflecting the general pattern associated with the retail industry of peak sales and earnings during the holiday shopping season. As a result, a substantial portion of its 2011 e-Commerce revenue occurred in its fourth quarter (year ending December 2011). As is typical in the retail industry, the company experiences lower e-Commerce revenue during the other quarters. The company’s Media business experiences lower Web traffic — often accompanied by reduced advertising spending — during the summer due to various holidays in the United States and Europe. Competition e-Commerce: The company’s competitors include Threadless; Zazzle; Brookstone; Best Buy; Bed Bath and Beyond; RedEnvelope; UncommonGoods; Amazon.com; Buy.com; and Overstock.com. Media: The company’s competitors include Github.com; Berlios.de; news.google.com; Digg.com; and Reddit.com. History The company was founded in 1993. The company was incorporated in California in 1995 and reincorporated in Delaware in 1999. It was formerly known as VA Linux Systems, Inc. and changed its name to VA Software Corporation in 2001 and then to SourceForge, Inc. in 2007. Further, the company changed its name to Geeknet, Inc. in 2009.