One of the many uses that I have had for my 
syncro was to drive it up into the mountains 
where I could have private time to invent things 
on my computer.  When I started, I did not know 
*what* I was going to invent; I just knew that 
the syncro offered the isolation I needed for 
patience and creative thinking. And I also knew 
that I needed to earn a living somehow, and that 
to help me solve this problem, I would use only 
my mind, my computer, a fist full of credit card 
credit lines, and my syncro camper.

The product of that work was the business plan 
and prototype for www.consumersearch.com. I spent 
about three years in the camper doing this work. 
Typically, I would park up roads that I knew 
nobody else in their right mind would try to 
navigate because only a syncro with a winch could 
get up them, and where the creative part of me 
felt safe and secure enough from sneers and interruptions to function.

While in the woods, I also taught myself public 
speaking so that I could communicate my ideas to 
others and raise money. I did this by booming out 
speeches to empty woods with printouts of 
powerpoint slides on the forest floor for me to 
speak to. I was too embarrassed to give these 
speeches anywhere else, where someone could hear 
the grandiose plans that I had, which seemed near 
delusional at the time going by what was actually in my checking account.

In 2000 and 2001, I gave these forest floor 
presentations to 100 investors and after being 
turned down about 70 times by millionaires and 
venture capitalists, I succeeded in raising $1.25 
million from a small group of investors. I used 
that money to launch consumersearch.com. I have 
been building it since that time while trying to 
read as many list mails as I could, and while 
publishing the occasional vanagon and syncro 
article to the lists (see some of these linked to below).

Many of you list members know that I have been distracted lately and "busy."

I have been busy with the sale of my company.

This week, I sold my business to the New York 
Times Company / About.com for $33 million. You 
can see articles about the sale here:

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=22209&hed=NY+Times+Goes+Shopping

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/technology/07about.html?ex=1336190400&en=469aa235ab908be2&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Meanwhile, in the middle of negotiating my 
company's sale, I happened to catch wind of and 
acquire $150,000 of syncro specific drivetrain 
and transmission-related parts headed for a 
landfill in Europe, and I made a production run 
of another 100 of CV-900 wheels for all the list 
members who have been emailing me and asking for them.

In the coming weeks (for the wheels) and starting 
in the fall (for the syncro specific drivetrain 
and transmission parts) I hope to catalog and 
price these parts, and then let them out into the 
community. I understand that supplies of 
syncro-specific parts will begin going NLA at the 
dealers soon. I purchased these parts for us. 
Unfortunately, I cannot take any email requests 
about them before the fall because I have other 
priority issues to handle. In fact, if you don't 
hear much about what parts are available until 
next Thanksgiving, don't be surprised.

After all of this is over, I hope to get back to 
spending more of my time in syncro-land.

Red Herring Article

NY Times Goes Shopping

Seeking growth, media firm buys ConsumerSearch.com.
May 7, 2007

By Ken Schachter

Just weeks after facing down a shareholder 
uprising, The New York Times went shopping, 
snapping up 7-year-old ConsumerSearch.com for $33 million on Monday.

ConsumerSearch, which rates products ranging from 
leaf blowers to MP3 players by distilling 
published product reviews, will be incorporated into the Times� About.com unit.

The move puts About.com into competition with a 
host of online product review services, including 
shopping search engines like E.W. Scripps� 
Shopzilla, where consumers can render their 
opinions; Epinions, a unit of eBay that posts 
consumer reviews; and specialty publications like 
CNET, whose reviewers rate the latest cell phones and printers.

The deal�About.com�s third in the past eight 
months�represents a vindication for the 
minimalist approach of ConsumerSearch.com, which 
outlasted well-financed rivals like Productopia. 
While Productopia burned through $22 million in 
venture capital, ConsumerSearch raised only $1.25 
million in an angel/venture round. In October 
2000, ConsumerSearch bought the assets of Productopia.

�We built the business so it could be matched to 
the size of the market opportunity,� co-founder 
and Chief Executive Derek Drew said of his 
six-person company. �We didn�t hire a director of 
human resources. We didn�t do things a lot of 
competitors around us were doing.�

Scott Meyer, About.com chief executive, said the 
company hopes to extend the brand of 
ConsumerSearch. �By acquiring them, we could accelerate their growth,� he said.

ConsumerSearch has been edging toward a buy-out 
since February, when Mr. Drew decided that his 
talent for developing product reviewers was being 
crimped by his time spent looking at spreadsheets 
and fielding calls from venture capitalists. He 
went to Bank of America Securities to arrange an 
auction for the company, closing the deal with About.com on Friday.

________________________________________________________
Derek Drew                                 Washington, DC
derekdrew@derekmail.com (NEW 4/2006) Phone 202-966-7907
(derekdrew@rcn.com is old and should be changed to the above)
Email me for viscous coupling s  (Cell 703-408-1532)
'90 Syncro Westfalia...
...seen off-road at
http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/Syncro_Madness_Area.htm
...seen with 30.5" tall tires at
http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/images/dereks245_75_16.jpg
Note: most valuable Vanagon sites on the planet (for owners) are:
       http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?S1=vanagon
       http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/
       http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro
       http://www.vanagon.com
       http://www.syncro.org
Many of my Syncro list postings consolidated
       http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/messagesearch?query=212-580-6486
       http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/messagesearch?query=202-966-7907
My refrigerator article:
        http://www.vanagon.com/info/articles/Refrigerator/Reefer_Madness.htm
All About 16" Wheels And The CV-900.htm
       http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/All_About_16-Wheels_And_The_CV_900.htm
All About Viscous Couplings
       http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/viscous_couplings_vanagon_syncro.htm
         Grab rates vs rpm of VCs 
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/17172
         Notes on off-roading and decouplers 
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/24615
How To Live With Heavy List Volume--Mail Filters
       http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7403
My tutorial on how to strengthen your skid plates for off-road driving
       http://www.syncro.photosite.com/ and after clicking on that click
       on the image that says Skid Plates / Reinforcements and work your way
       through the 10 photos. BE SURE to notice 
the text that is below some of the
       pictures, as it clarifies what the point of some of the pictures is.
My article that shows how to deal with insurance companies:
        http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/auto-insurance-madness.html
To read some material about how to add a front differential lock to your syncro
        http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/13105
To view Wolfgang's incredibly informative wheel article
        http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/fitbigtiresonvanagon.htm
To view Tim Smith's incredibly useful gearing calculator
        http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/syncrotireandgearratios.xls
To view two articles about how to think about 
improving your gears at transmission rebuild time
        http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7207
        http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7221
To view an overview article about choices in larger sized tires see
        http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/11535
To view some 16" Trailing Arms that enable much larger tires see
       http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syncrolist/files/Wheels%2C%20Tires%20%26%20Gearing/Wheel%20%26%20Tire%20Photos/16_Inch_Trailing_Arm.jpg
My article about belt protectors and CV joint protectors
       http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/6112
SYNCRO OWNERS WHO DRIVE OFF THE ROAD:
       You only get to change your ring and pinions once every 10 years
        because that's how long the average syncro transmission goes before
        its next rebuild. If you want bigger tires and more ground clearance
        start planning your higher number ring 
and pinion sets right now so you
        can take advantage of your next trans rebuild.
Vanagon Vendors For Parts To Consider At Problem Time
       www.van-cafe.com (parts and repairs too)