High-Tech Marketing Veteran Joins AskMe Corporation as Vice President of Marketing; Keith Brown Led Successful Marketing Efforts at HP and Onyx Software

Business Wire, August 14, 2001

Business Editors, High-Tech Writers

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 14, 2001

AskMe Corporation, the leader in enterprise knowledge sharing solutions, today announced Keith Brown has joined the company as its vice president of marketing.

Brown has more than 20 years of extensive, hands-on experience in building and managing high-tech companies. Most recently, he served as vice president of sales and marketing for two well-known high-tech companies in the Puget Sound area, ProjectGuides.com and Onyx Software.

"Keith is a great fit to lead our aggressive marketing efforts both in the United States and overseas," said Udai Shekawat, CEO of AskMe Corporation. "He has the right mix of experience, knowledge and professional drive to help us maintain and expand our position as the leading provider of knowledge sharing solutions to Global 2000 companies."

From 1999 through early 2001, Brown led the sales and marketing efforts at ProjectGuides.com, a Bellevue, Wash., company that built a business-to-business exchange for the architectural and engineering markets before being acquired by Onvia. Brown was instrumental in helping the company raise $16 million in funding and helped triple the customer base in less than one year.

From 1997 to 1999, Brown was vice president of marketing at Onyx Software, where he managed the company's global marketing efforts as the company more than doubled its annual revenues to $34 million.

Brown spent more than 10 years in various divisions of the Hewlett-Packard Company. He started with HP in 1986 and rose through the management ranks to lead worldwide marketing for HP's Information Appliance Operations in Boise, Idaho.

"Top global organizations such as P&G (Proctor and Gamble), CNA and 3Com are actively pursuing strategies that improve their bottom line while driving sustainable competitive advantage into their organizations. These companies are rapidly learning that many knowledge workers are blocked from completing business critical tasks, that others in the organizations already have answers to." Brown said. "We have a remarkable opportunity at AskMe to provide them with a proven solution that is intuitive, easy to use and a cost-effective way to eliminate these roadblocks."

About AskMe Corporation

AskMe Corporation is the leading provider of knowledge sharing software for Global 2000 companies. The privately held company was founded in 1999 by former Microsoft executives who envisioned a way to capture, catalogue, transfer, and maintain employee knowledge to create measurable bottom-line business benefits and sustainable competitive advantage. The Bellevue, Washington-based company is made up of experienced technology professionals from industry leading companies such as Microsoft (MSFT), Intel (INTC), i2, and ISS (ISSX). AskMe customers include CNA Financial, Clarica, 3Com, Talisma and others. (www.askmecorp.com)