Focus On Quality

Bid4Assets, founded in November 1999, auctions the assets it gets fromsurplus government properties and bankruptcies, ranging from officefurniture to buildings to financial instruments. The company, whichexpects to be profitable by mid-2002, has only 35 employees, and itsnetwork of contacts is small. Standing alone, the company's chance forsuccess was slim, says Executive Vice President DavidMarchick.

Marchick made a list of auction leaders in the markets Bid4Assetswanted to penetrate: real estate, financial, bankruptcy, liquidationand food services. His criteria were multilayered. He looked forleaders whose network of contacts, service capabilities and salesstaff would benefit Bid4Assets without incurring added overhead. Inaddition, he wanted companies whose culture and mission fit hiscompany's mix of traditional and entrepreneurial endeavors. Inexchange, Bid4Assets offered ties to a Web front-end and thetechnology supporting it.

"We wanted to partner with a leader that was more established than usand who was interested in using auction technology, but one thatdidn't want to develop it themselves," Marchick says.

The result was a partnership with Trumbull Services, a subsidiary ofThe Hartford Insurance Co. Trumbull handled the administrative side ofbankruptcy court claims and had a vast network of contacts in thebankruptcy field. In August, The Hartford invested $4 million inBid4Assets. Trumbull gave the Silver Spring, Md.-based company accessto its contacts, and now the two companies sell bankruptcy claims onBid4Assets' auction site. They also partnered with SB Capital ofDallas, a leading liquidator whose sales and inventory force letBid4Assets expand its sales capabilities.