My friends Robert Maynard and Todd Davis are building a great Company at Lifelock . They are everywhere.
They ‘Guarantee’ to stop Identity Theft. The service also stops junk mail and credit card offers.
From a standing start in 2006, they now have nearly 100,000 paying customers for the Lifelock product. The product makes sense. It works and they guarantee it. I am a happy investor to date for sure.
Last week, Howard Stern began a spokesperson campaign of the product/service as well.
This week, Lifelock is sponsoring Wallstrip . My partners Adam and Jeff created some great viral ads that are premiering at the end of our shows. Stick around and watch them.
I am a customer and think it works for everyone. Sign up here .
For an in depth look at the product through Todd’s eyes, check out this recent interview.
Lifelock (I am an investor) has had an incredible run in it’s short life. Most recently, they surpassed 50,000 (paying) customers. Working with Rush Limbaugh to spread the word has not hurt. More important though, they are today’s sponsor of Wallstrip .
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’
You may have noticed that I am investor in Lifelock. If not…I am!
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.
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.
Posted on November 13th, 2006 | Category: General, Lifelock | Comments Off
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 .
My friend and partner in The Blogging Times – Chartreuse, has been tweaking an affiliate marketing sales program for bloggers to sell Lifelock (disclosure – an angel investment). Here is the first commercial:
Not sure how we are going to BEST deliver and display the message on each bloggers website (I have it displayed with links and landing page down on the right side of my blog), but the idea is cool and products like Lifelock will be big hits for bloggers looking to monetize their traffic if the right advertisements and programs are set. I think that ads by Feedburner delivered in between posts by the bloggers offers a great delivery method.
Please let me know what you think on all fronts. Thanks
. 
