Lifelock is a successful consumer web story first because it’s a great product, but more importantly, the team always ‘got’ marketing. They took a webby idea and took it off web to sell it. It boggles my mind how many people are aware of the ad campaigns, where CEO Todd Davis gives away his social security number (457-55-5462, in case you were wondering) as further testimony to the flawlessness of their service.

The Company is continually perfecting and adding to their services. Now, they even guarantee the safety of your wallet with WalletLock. Lose your wallet? Not a worry. One of their WalletLock specialists will contact each credit card, bank or document issuing company, cancel your accounts and complete the paperwork and any further hassles for you. Even replacing your goods, including credit / debit cards, driver’s license, social security, etc…even traveler’s checks. No charge.

In case you haven’t caught it in my previous posts, I am an angel investor and participated in the Kleiner Perkins round with our Knighstbridge fund. This is also great news for venture and start-ups in Phoenix.

If they keep this up I will be a thousandairre in no time. If it proves one thing it’s that if you stay in the game and keep swinging the bat, you might hit one out of the park. Still a long way to go before I can call it a winner, but it feels good just the same.

Fifth, hassling with lost or stolen wallets is no longer a problem with WalletLock™. If ever your wallet goes missing, just give us a call – anytime, anywhere – and a WalletLock specialist will contact each credit card, bank or document issuing company, cancel your affected accounts and complete the paperwork and steps necessary to replace your lost documents*, including your credit/debit cards, driver’s license, social security card, insurance cards, checkbook – even travelers checks – at no additional cost.

Awesome.

If they can announce STOCKLOCK (I pitched it down at HQ) that guarantees me higher stock prices (kind of like China and India)…we can finally get to an IPO.

Disclosure- Lifelock Investor.

As the internet evolves, I am getting less and less excited about the ‘freemium’ or ‘user’ model and only looking at customer driven models. I guess that means a lot more ‘NO’s’.

It’s not enough to have a cool product or application or service, you have to know how to market it. Period.

Lifelock is sure to be attracting competitors as the growth has been staggering, but true segment and industry leaders continue to improve the product, services, marketing and innovation and when you do that, first mover means a lot. That’s what Lifelock is doing everyday.

Check out the Lifelock gift certificate program . i know it’s viral because 4 friends who are customers sent me the link after they bought it for family members. If you have a family member spending oodles of time on the web, this is a great gift. If you have kids on Webkinz, Club Penguin, MySpace and Facebook…same thing. Buy it.

Disclosure – Lifelock investor

It has been about 18 months since I became an angel to the start-up. They had 8 employees and a few thousand customers. Today there are 170 employees and and they have moved three times to bigger space in the last 12 months, settling now in north Tempe in a sweet part of the city. A young Austin, Texas in the making in Tempe (in terms of tech). They have taken in over $15 million in venture money as well.

I can’t reveal the customer numbers but it rhymes with many hundreds of thousands.

Americans pay for peace of mind and it is fun to be a part of this one. You really should sign-up. Use Wallstrip as a discount code.

Disclosure – Long Lifelock

Check out their National Television Campaign . Classic.

I bought a car recently and forgot about me having Lifelock. Sure enough, I get a call from the Finance company a few days later (I have the car…sweet) that they can’t get the deal done until I clear it with them and Lifelock. I love that.

The best advantage that Lifelock has brought me is when I tried to get my iPhone set-up. When I logged in to install through iTunes, AT&T could not approve me so I prepaid $49 and did not have to sign up for a two-year contract.

If this is what I think it is, I will save a pretty penny over the three years I woud have had to have a contract. The Lifelock Loop it’s called over in the Lindzon home for now. I am awaiting a call from an AT&T representative but until that happens, no bills…hallelujah!

Disclosure – Angel and Series B Investor in Lifelock

The trend in identity theft is staggering (read the stories flashing on the Lifelock home page for starters). There is a tremendous amount of information on the net on how to deal with identity theft – ONCE IT HAPPENS TO YOU.

Lifelock was created to change things. At Lifelock, they:

1. Stop Junk Mail
2. Stop Credit Offers
3. and Stop Identity Theft – Guaranteed

Head over and sign up . You help support our show while guaranteeing your good name. When you click the ‘enroll now’ button, you can use ‘wallstrip’ as a promo code and get a 10 percent discount.

It was a fantastic job by everybody in New York. Special thanks to Shane for the general show idea.

The host of the show is one crazy dude – Fritz Donnelly

special “day trade” promotion for wallSTRIPPERS anyone who buys Fritz’s DVD “To the Hills: 24 Independent Short Films” receives an extra DVD FOR FREE with the award-winning short “Financial Advice” 2 DVDs for $10 bucks, impossible to beat just buy from tothehills studios on amazon.com or go thru paypal at ToTheHills.com .

PS – I knew Lindsay would go for the ‘Shhhhhwing Trader’

If you have not noticed the Lifelock link on Wallstrip – go look more closely :) . Lifelock is a wicked good product and invaluable service (hopefully you won’t need their full service).

I suck at explaining things so here is what the smart dudes at the company say about Lifelock:

LifeLock is the nation’s first and only ID Theft Prevention Company that maintains active fraud alerts with the three major credit bureaus as well as ChexSystems. The LifeLock system makes personal information useless to everyone but the rightful owner. Each time someone attempts to open credit, change an address, or make changes to bank accounts, LifeLock is there to ensure the right person is making the request. Also unique to other products on the market, LifeLock removes a member’s name from solicitation lists and junk mail, eliminating a primary target of ID thieves – the pre-approved credit offer. The LifeLock system is backed by a one million dollar guarantee to completely fix any problems if a client is ever compromised.

Pretty simple. Even simpler – Get 10 percent off using WALLSTRIP as a code upon signing up or just click through from the Wallstrip site. Takes a couple minutes and $9/month and you are safe from the nightmare of identity theft. It’s a great deal.

I was extremely excited to hear that he and his firm Bessemer Ventures were investing in Lifelock.

He has a great post on “Preventing Identity Theft” that explains the firm’s view on the industry and their investments.

Me – I have no views just hunches :) so, I may have gotten lucky on this one.

But that’s my motto over in Lindzonville – “I’d rather be lucky than smart.”

Disclosure – Long Lifelock

LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention Service

Announces $6 Million First Round Funding

Investment from Leading Venture Capital Firm Bessemer Venture Partners

Will Drive Growth Initiatives

TEMPE, AZ – (November 13, 2006) – LifeLock, the industry leader in the
prevention of identity theft, today announced it has raised $6 million
in a first round venture investment from one of the world’s leading
venture capital firms, Bessemer Venture Partners. Among other uses, the
funding will be used to extend consumer awareness of LifeLock’s
pioneering, guaranteed services-already the world’s most popular defense
against identity theft.

“We thank our tens of thousands of satisfied customers who made it
possible for us to attract Bessemer as a partner,” said Todd Davis, CEO
of LifeLock. “Bessemer’s century of experience funding ventures in
financial services and information security will help us sustain
LifeLock’s friendly, dependable service through this hypergrowth phase
of our business.”

LifeLock was founded last year by seasoned veterans in the fields of
banking, payment, credit and security who set out to defend individuals
from the onslaught of identity theft at a time when our personal
information credentials are increasingly compromised through the mail,
medical records, and the internet. They crafted a simple, pro-active
service for guaranteed ID theft prevention offered to the public for
just $10 per month or $110 per year. Already, many colleges and
universities, professional associations, credit unions and others have
chosen LifeLock as their preferred ID theft prevention partner.

“The reported rise in data breaches among vendors, banks and web sites
exposes the need for new technology to defend us from the onslaught of
I.D. thieves,” said David Cowan, the Bessemer partner who has joined
LifeLock’s board of directors. “So as Bessemer set out to find and fund
the solution to this problem, it was clear to us that LifeLock has the
winning team, the best technology, and the happiest customers.” Mr.
Cowan’s previous investments include security service providers Postini,
Cyota (acquired by RSA), Counterpane (acquired by British Telecom), and
Verisign, which Cowan co-founded in 1995.

About LifeLock

LifeLock was the nation’s first ID Theft Prevention Company that
maintains active fraud alerts with the three major credit bureaus, as
well as ChexSystems. LifeLock gives people control of their own
information, giving them the ability to authorize every risky
transaction such as address changes and opening of credit lines.
LifeLock renders personal information useless to thieves, backing up its
service with a million-dollar guarantee to completely fix any problems
if a client is ever compromised. Located in a secure facility in Tempe,
Arizona, LifeLock is a private company registered with Dun & Bradstreet,
Verisign, ScanAlert HackerSafe, and the BBBOnline Reliability Program,
and is a corporate sponsor of the National Crime Prevention Council.

About Bessemer Venture Partners

Bessemer Venture Partners is the oldest venture capital practice in the
United States, carrying on a tradition of hands-on, active investing
that has continued since 1911. The firm manages two billion dollars of
venture funds from offices in Silicon Valley, Boston, New York,
Shanghai, and Mumbai. Over 100 Bessemer companies have gone public,
including Blue Nile, Ciena, Gartner Group, Ingersoll Rand, International
Paper, Maxim, Parametric, Perseptive Biosystems, Staples, VeriSign,
Veritas and W.R. Grace.

Lifelock , one of my angel investments, closed on approximately $4.5 million in venture funding from Bessemer Venture Partners . Bessemer has a great website and has had just a few winners (Skype and Verisign) :) .

I am happy for everybody involved. This was a deal that I almost passed on 20 times. I could not get a good reading from a lot of my trusted friends and sources who reviewed it with me, but I am glad I took the opportunity. Identity Theft is not a trend that is going to fade anytime soon. From my reading of the growth statistics in identity theft, it seems like a “when”, not “if” problem.

Robert and Todd have allowed me to set up a discount code for signing up at Lifelock . Just use the code “The Blogging Times ” to get a nice discount.

Robert Maynard and Todd Davis, the founders, have worked smart and created a great business that has a great positive cash flow model and has grown very fast from practically the beginning. Although it is considered an internet company, even an internet security company, Todd and Robert have used the traditional models of PR and marketing to get the sales in high gear. They just get it. They have been great in letting me explore some creative ways to get the web marketing and affiliate programs underway. There is some great stuff in the pipeline.

It is also another great example of smart entrepreneurs and growing internet deal flow in the Valley of the Sun (Phoenix).

It looks like Alarm Clock broke the story on October 31st. I was under a muzzle order as usual :) .

Alarm Clock had a nice review of our Wallstrip, so they must be smart and hard working :) .