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Modwest buyout of local Missoula company, Trilocal illustrates Web trend

In a deal announced in early February, Modwest Inc. http://www.modwest.com bought Trilocal Web Development and Hosting.

The deal between the two Missoula companies was small; the sums were not princely. Trilocal, operated by its two founders, had no employees, and Modwest is no giant – with its three founders and seven employees.

Yet the deal offers a view into the dynamic Web service world, where pint-sized competitors constantly spring up to challenge (and underbid) more established companies. And from that Darwinian struggle, some say, the next generation of Web-service successes will rise.

"The competition is huge," said Julie Foster, founder of the nonprofit Montana Jobs Network. In 2000, Foster sold her own Web-services business.

Anyone with some talent and drive can design Web pages in their basement, she said. But the life of those startups is short, usually not more than five years. As the business matures, the required hardware and the level of paperwork rises.

"There’s a pain threshold. For most companies, it’s when the customer counts are between 100 and 1,000," said Modwest’s John Masterson.

By ROBERT STRUCKMAN of the Missoulian

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2005/02/15/news/local/news01.txt

For more info: http://www.matr.net/article-13539.html

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