Global Fastener News

MEDIA SPOTLIGHT: Time Features Dicke’s Matchbid Venture

John Wolz

Kristian Dicke was slated to head screw manufacturer Altenloh Brinck & Co., which has been run by his family for five generations. But 36-year-old Dicke and two brothers �opted for dot-com careers instead,� reporter Jennifer Schenker narrated the start of Matchbid.com and FastenerExchange.com.\
Under the headline �The Innovator,� with emphasis on the �e� in �The,� Time E-Europe chronicled Dicke�s development of the fastener trading system.
�Their father, Robert, 69 � who does not use a computer � has mixed feelings about this generational shift.� Schenker wrote.
�I have one laughing eye and one crying eye,� she quoted the elder Dicke.
The father is concerned that the new trading platform �will compete with, and could eventually destroy, the family business by increasing price transparency and driving down margins.�
ABC executives were concerned that the online exchange would end the industry practice of different prices for different customers.
Kristian Dicke hopes the Internet will preserve the family business by giving it a broader customer base.
Dicke comes from Germany�s Ruhr Valley, where the coal industry once thrived. He is the great-grandson of consumer appliance manufacturer Krups.
Dicke raised $3 million first-round financing to launch his project and struggled with patents not designed for the Internet.
�The idea behind Matchbid is to create exchanges targeting specific markets, such as wire or oil and lubrication, place these exchanges into separate legal entities, then carry out multiple initial public offerings,� according to Time.
FastenerExchange, Matchbid�s first venture, went on the web in March.
Time tells of hassles in finding someone to head Matchbid�s U.S. operations. A headhunting firm wanted too much and would take two months. A local candidate couldn�t get out of his employment contract. The article also tells of Matchbid�s bid for venture capital.
Matchbid hired Horst Eicken, 64, the former president of fastener distributor Gevag, as a consultant. Eicken had attempted to create an Internet exchange in 1994.
The article also tells of Matchbid�s bid for venture capital. �Dicke is thinking of working with an accelerator to speed up Matchbid�s expansion,� Schenker concluded. �As more venture capital flows into Europe, the trick for companies like Matchbid is not simply to secure funding but to hook up with venture capitalists who can advise them on the nuts and bolts of building an Internet business.�
Editor�s Note: Articles in Media Spotlight are excerpts from publications or broadcasts which show the industry what the public is reading or hearing about fasteners and fastener companies.