Early Years: 1993-1994
Bien Logic was founded in February 1993 by Frederic Bien in collaboration with Michel Delory, George Geller and Dina Tsoukas. Peter Yianilos, an inventor of spell-checking products, founder of Proximity Inc. and former President of Franklin Electronic Publishers, was the first angel investor in the company. The initial plan was to create educational software for handheld digital books and personal digital assistants. As an associate professor of mathematics at UCSD, Frederic Bien was encouraged by Chancellor Dick Atkinson and by Professor Pat Suppes at Stanford University; both co-founders of CCC (Computer Curriculum Corporation) then owned by Simon & Schuster. After a well-received presentation to Simon & Schuster CEO Dick Snyder who was an early believer in handheld electronic books, CCC's CEO Ron Fortune gave a substantial contract to Bien Logic in 1993 to develop the first educational digital book on the eBook/BOOKMAN platform of Franklin. Within a few months, Bien Logic delivered two prototype products: MatchCoach (for Simon & Schuster) and SpanishCoach (for Apple Newton). However, faced on one hand with the low consumer adoption of these early digital books, and on the other with the acquisition of Simon & Schuster by Viacom who had a different strategic plan, Bien Logic changed direction in mid-1994, and started developing websites and interactive marketing programs for various clients.
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