Scott Kurnit

is wary of joint ventures, having already left two new media alliances behind him: Prodigy (a joint venture of Sears and IBM) and News Corp./MCI Internet Ventures. Even so, for The Mining Company, his latest venture, he's going to need a lot of help.

Kurnit is using the services of 500 part-time, unsalaried workers to serve as guides to the Internet. His role is to provide the advertising sales and marketing, the front door to all sites in his network, and, of course, to take a cut off the top.

An investment from NBC in January 1998 to help the network with its interactive service was a vote of confidence in Kurnit's network. Where does he plan to take it next? Paul Schindler and Computer Chronicles' Stewart Cheifet spoke to Kurnit during Spring Internet World '98.

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Job
Founder, The Mining Co.; CEO of General Internet

Career
CEO of MCI/News Corp., Internet Ventures; Founded pay-per-view netwwork for viacom; Head of programming for Warner's Qube; Executive vice president at Prodigy

Education
B.A., sociology and communications, Hampshire College, Amherst, Mass.; Attended New York University film school.

Home
New York City

Family
Married to Abbe

Prodigy?
Was once the youngest program director among all PBS stations.