MindSpring sold internet access to people who had never been online. It shipped its own easy software, ran its own local dial-up numbers, and answered the phone when customers got stuck. The Atlanta company started service in June 1994, and two years later it had about 34,500 subscribers. In the fall of 1996 it raised more money to buy 66,000 subscriber accounts from PSINet, a deal that would take it from a regional player to a national one.

A Year of Planning

Charles Brewer spent May 1993 to January 1994 working out the idea. He had been chief executive of AudioFax, a fax software company, and before that a venture capitalist. MindSpring was incorporated in Georgia in February 1994. The bet was on beginners. Online services like AOL kept people inside their own walls. MindSpring gave them the open internet, with friendly software and support for people who had little or no online experience.

Eight Dollars, Then EarthLink

MindSpring went public on March 14, 1996, at $8 a share, on Nasdaq as MSPG. That October it sold 2.25 million more shares to help pay for the PSINet accounts, which also came with access to PSINet's national network. MindSpring kept growing by buying subscribers from smaller providers. In 2000 it merged with EarthLink, a larger rival. The combined company kept the EarthLink name and moved its headquarters to Atlanta.

Cover: The Fountains, Hubert Robert. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for fountains (a spring).