Westlake Venture Partners was established in 2001 to assist young and emerging companies in the growth and success of their business. Created and managed by the original, four founders of NetZero, Westlake Venture Partners employs both practical and innovative business strategies, as well as capital investments, to help our portfolio companies succeed in achieving their business goals.

Utilizing over 50 years of combined business consulting experience and the "in the trenches" experience the four founders had in managing the success of NetZero, Westlake Venture Partners can provide the type of practical and "been-there-done-that" knowledge to help young companies navigate their road to success.

                                 Left to right:  Harold MacKenzie, Ronald Burr, Stacy Haitsuka, Marwan Zebian

Engineers by training and business men by nature, Ronald Burr, Stacy Haitsuka, Marwan Zebian and Harold MacKenzie founded and incubated NetZero in the Spring of 1997 through IMPACT Software, their IT consulting business that serviced Fortune 500 companies. The NetZero service was first launched in October of 1998. It quickly became one of the fastest growing companies during the Internet boom.  In only eleven months from its launch, NetZero went public in September of 1999.

From its inception, NetZero experienced the type of explosive growth that was the envy of its peers. Through skillful management and sound business decisions, NetZero was able to avoid the pitfalls and errors that caused many Internet companies to fail. Unlike other Internet startups at that time, the four founders eschewed the Internet dogma of "growth at all cost" and instead focused on:

Building a team
of highly skilled
engineers
Building a team
of highly skilled
and
experienced
managers

Running a
lean
and cash
conscious
business
Employing
innovative
strategies to
maximize
exposure and
growth with
minimal capital
expenditure
Making sound
business decisions
with a view
towards the
long-term
Creating an
environment
to promote
innovative
thinking and
personal
responsibility

From its launch in 1998 through 2001, NetZero raised over $400 million; signed multi-million dollar deals with companies such as GM, Qualcomm and Compaq Computers; filed 50 patents (seven of which have been issued so far); acquired over seven companies; serviced over 5 million subscribers; and maintained one of the highest service quality ratings for Internet Service Providers.

In the summer of 2001, NetZero acquired Juno, their closest competitor, and created United Online (Nasdaq: UNTD). Having accomplished their goals in securing the future success of the company, the four founders believed the time was right to move on and to utilize their knowledge and experience to assist young companies and entrepreneurs in achieving their own success.