Juno was born inside a hedge fund. D. E. Shaw & Co., the New York quant firm run by computer scientist David E. Shaw, launched it to give people email for free. You did not need web access. Juno's software dialed a local number, swapped your messages and hung up, showing ads while you read. By the time Juno went public in May 1999, it was selling full internet access too.

Email for the Rest of Us

Juno's bet was that millions of people wanted email before they wanted the web, and that advertisers would pay to reach them. The basic service was free. Juno Gold let users send pictures and files, and Juno Web offered full dial-up internet access for a monthly fee. The company designed its software for people just starting to explore the internet, and planned to move them up to the paid plans.

Two Free Services Join Up

Juno priced at $13 a share in May 1999 and listed on Nasdaq as JWEB. Free and cheap dial-up turned into a crowded fight, and ad money dried up after the dot-com crash. In 2001 Juno merged with its rival NetZero to form United Online. The combined company kept both brands, and B. Riley Financial bought United Online in 2016.

Cover: Juno and the Peacock, Angelica Kauffmann. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a peacock (the bird of the goddess Juno).