Adams hopes for profits by fall

Having already pumped $400,000 into its NeXT-only publishing venture, Appsoft is pursuing a strategy that may produce some profits by the summer. Along with a business plan based on initial funding of $1 million Ð including $500,000 out of company President Randy Adams's own pocket Ð the company is pursuing negotiations with a venture-capital firm for additional investment, as well as possible software bundling deals with NeXTstep '486 OEMs.

Adams said he originally planned to attract $5 million, but after doing the rounds of venture-capital firms, he scaled down his expectations. The company is shipping only about 100 to 150 copies of WriteNow a month, but plans to ship roughly 160 units of Appsoft Draw its first month and 370 copies of Image. "We think Image is going to bring us into profitability," he said.

Adams still anticipates a "negative burn rate of about $50,000" per month for the rest of this year. In light of this, the company has entered a belt-tightening period. Once it turns the profitability corner, the company plans to create an in-house engineering department.

The company's business plan predicts a NeXT installed base of 1 million units by 1995. The company is committed to a NeXT-only strategy through 1992, but Adams said it will consider porting its products to other platforms if profits haven't materialized by then.

Ð by Clair Whitmer