Beginnings
Razorfish was started in 1995 in New York by Craig Kanarick and Jeff Dachis. It began in Dachis’s apartment in Manhattan’s Alphabet City. Their first big job was building a small website for the New York Botanical Garden for $20,000, hired by Time Warner’s Pathfinder team.[8] A few months later, they moved to an office at 580 Broadway and hired three new employees.
Early Success
In 1995, Razorfish made over $300,000, and in 1996, they earned over $1.2 million with a $300,000 profit. They were one of the first companies to create an animated homepage using the “server-push” feature of the Netscape browser. Thanks to this and bold advertising, the company grew fast. They got funding from Omnicom, a traditional media company, along with other new media companies like Agency.com, Red Sky Interactive, Think New Ideas, and Organic. Razorfish used this money to move to new offices, update their branding (including the slogan “Everything that can be digital will be”), and grow their business. Razorfish, along with other New York web design companies, helped form a group of new media businesses called Silicon Alley.
In 1997, Razorfish made over $3.6 million and worked with well-known clients like KPMG and Charles Schwab.[9]
In January 1998, Razorfish bought Avalanche Systems, starting a series of acquisitions. In 1998, they also bought Plastic in San Francisco,[10] London-based CHBi,[11] Los Angeles-based media, and merged with Spray, a Scandinavian company with offices in Stockholm (Sweden), Helsinki (Finland), Oslo (Norway), and Hamburg (Germany).[12]
In 1998, Razorfish made over $83 million and was profitable, with over 1,100 employees.[13] In April 1999, they held an initial public offering (IPO), raising $48 million at $16 per share.[8]
In fall 1999, Razorfish bought International Integration, Inc. (I-Cube), a Boston-based company founded by Yannis Doganis, Madhav Anand, and Edouard (Eddie) Aslanian, their biggest deal yet.[14] Sales for 1999 reached over $170 million.
In May 2000, Razorfish started Intervision-Razorfish, a joint venture in Tokyo.[15] Around this time, the dot-com bubble began affecting the industry. Razorfish’s fourth-quarter revenue in 2000 was $50.1 million, a 5% drop from the previous year. Total revenue for 2000 was nearly $268 million. In February 2001, Razorfish laid off 400 employees, about 20% of its staff, as its stock price fell from $57 in February 2000 to just $1 per share.
60 Minutes II Interview
In February 2000, Craig Kanarick and Jeff Dachis were interviewed on 60 Minutes II by Bob Simon. They struggled to clearly explain what their company did.[16] The interview was widely seen as a failure.[17]
Acquisition by SBI
In 2003, SBI Group (formerly SBI and Company) bought Razorfish and renamed it SBI.Razorfish.[18] SBI also bought other companies like Scient, iXL, MarchFirst (formerly USWeb and CKS Group), Emerald Solutions, Lante, and Xcelerate.
Acquisition by aQuantive
In 2004, aQuantive bought SBI.Razorfish and renamed it Avenue A | Razorfish. In 2005, this company had the highest interactive revenue in the U.S., at $189.8 million, according to Ad Age.[19]
Acquisition by Microsoft
On May 18, 2007, Microsoft announced plans to buy Avenue A | Razorfish as part of a $6.0 billion purchase of aQuantive.[20] The deal closed on August 10, 2007. Razorfish operated independently within Microsoft Advertising, led by Brian McAndrews, former CEO of aQuantive, who reported to Microsoft’s Platforms & Services Division president. On October 20, 2008, the company dropped the Avenue A name and became Razorfish.
In June 2009, Microsoft announced it was selling Razorfish.[21]
Acquisition by Publicis Groupe
In June 2009, Microsoft said it planned to sell Razorfish, as it competed with Microsoft Advertising’s main business of selling ad technology to rival agencies.[22] On August 9, Paris-based Publicis Groupe bought Razorfish from Microsoft for $530 million in cash and shares, giving Microsoft a 3% stake in Publicis Groupe.[23][24] Clark Kokich was CEO from July 2007 until April 2008, when Bob Lord became CEO, and Kokich became Chairman. In July 2013, Pete Stein became Global CEO after five years in the leadership team. Stein was followed by Tom Adamski, then Shannon Denton. In October 2015, Tom Adamski died from cancer.[25]
In 2016, Razorfish merged with SapientNitro to form SapientRazorfish, led by former SapientNitro CEO Alan Wexler, who also became Co-CEO of Publicis. Sapient with Sapient Consulting CEO Chip Register.[26]
