A Interview With Rick Inatome -- ZapMe Corp.

The former Inacom Corp. chairman last month was named chief executive of ISP ZapMe Corp. He recently spoke with CRN Associate Editor David Jastrow about the current state of both companies.

CRN: Do you think Inacom Chief Executive Bill Fairfield will be able to fill your shoes [as chairman]?

Rick Inatome: I think Bill is an outstanding executive. I think he's got unparalleled skills and a tremendous track record. This industry has been full of roller-coaster rides up and down. You just need a special person with the kind of tenacity and experience Bill has.

CRN: Will someone else eventually take over Fairfield's chief executive position?

Inatome: I think Bill exhibits strong leadership, and I just know he will be successful in the role he has. He's got the role, and he's going to do an outstanding job.

CRN:: What do you think needs to happen for Inacom's stock to move to the next level?

Inatome: I don't think people realize that at Inacom, we have a billion-dollar services company. Because of the size of the revenue base of our traditional product distribution, it gets a little overshadowed. But I think that once investors realize the potential,the leadership we command in the services business and the potential for growth as everything becomes E-commercized,we really have the definitive infrastructure to lead the charge in technical integration services for everything large customers are doing. We really need to expose that to the shareholders and potential shareholders and Wall Street because it has been underestimated in terms of the value it [provides] to the industry and to our customers.

CRN: How did you get introduced to ZapMe?

Inatome: I became involved initially as a venture-capital investor.

CRN: What is your role with the company going to be?

Inatome: The one thing that ZapMe is going through is a growth phase. From my background and from seeing and managing companies through very fast growth phases, I think there was a lot of opportunity to provide a lot of experience and leadership in those areas.

CRN: Did it appeal to you to go back to the entrepreneurial tendencies you have had throughout your career?

Inatome: As your company gets larger, you almost forget what those days were like, where everyday you have a wonderful set of expectations of what you can accomplish. Not only have I experienced large company growth, but I've also experienced the transition from CEO to chairman, so I have a unique insight and perspective. I think the thing that's most compelling for me is not just the enthusiasm and excitement of seeing that tremendous growth phase, but it's this Internet world. Even though I've been in the computer industry all my life, I really started to feel with the Internet world that I was being left out. It was almost the way I used to look at executives who didn't get and know the PC industry and the growth.

CRN: Why do you feel ZapMe will succeed?

Inatome: These companies are really reinventing the world. It's not just about free computers in schools. It's what I see as a learning launch pad for reinventing the way we distribute education, and certainly that schools have a big gap between what they need and [what] they can find the money for. And there's so many of these activities that tie in that this platform is creating a unique way to finance where schools have to go.

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