From Suite G to Sweet Success: NetLine Corporation Survives & Thrives for 17 Years in Silicon Valley

LOS GATOS, Calif., Jan. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- When NetLine Corporation launched in 1994, the Internet "information superhighway" had speed limits controlled by 14.4 dial-up modems. Fast forward 17 years and NetLine is now the largest B2B content syndication network, providing thousands of business reports, whitepapers, and eBooks in more than 300 categories for free to executives and professionals on their laptops, tablets and cell phones. It succeeded then as it does now—by delivering efficiency, convenience and value to its customers.

"I started NetLine in a tiny garage below my house—we called it 'Suite G.' Our initial idea was based on a frustrating experience I had trying to sign up for an engineering magazine subscription using a paper application form. I saw an opportunity to simplify and speed up the process by bringing it online. Basically that's what we've been doing for 17 years: recognizing a problem and applying innovative technology to fix it," said NetLine's CEO & Chairman, Robert Alvin. "While technology and adaptation power our growth, we're  fundamentally a service company. We connect businesses and customers to the benefit of both."

NetLine's next step was to partner with all the major print business trade magazines, being the first to offer online subscriber lead generation. It then provided email marketing, database management and hosted services to its growing number of publisher clients. "We moved into spaces early and we educated our customers—even before revenue streams were established. By continually anticipating their needs, we've shown our customers significant added value," noted Alvin. 

While the dot.com bubble was bursting, NetLine tightened its belt and thrived by expanding its highly-qualified lead gen services to include B2B advertisers. By 2006, its partner network reached nearly 10,000 sites, and the free content was now delivered primarily online. But NetLine didn't stop—it added new lead gen capabilities and marketing automation services, and was among the first to add mobile delivery applications.

Now in 2012 and nearly 20 million content downloads later, NetLine is the industry's premier B2B demand generation provider, delivering fresh leads daily to its growing client list of Fortune 500 companies, including Adobe, Hewlett Packard, Google, Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft Corporation. With a partner network of more than 15,000 sites, and over 2 million registered users, NetLine offers the latest business content, anytime and anywhere, to desktops, laptops, and major mobile platforms including the iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows, and Blackberry.

"We're in an explosive growth mode for 2012, and expect our content downloads to double in the next twelve months. We'll introduce new user features, expanded client services, broader audience bases, and flexible advertising options," added Alvin. "From the start, NetLine's success has been based on sharing our knowledge and experience with our clients to help them grow. Solving problems for them is still what drives us."

SOURCE NetLine Corporation