SAN FRANCISCO -- Maybe it was the free Mai Tais. But I'd swear last night I saw an investment banker float out onto an artificial lake in the middle of a Tiki bar to unveil his new Web site.
Wrapped in a lush fuchsia-colored lei (while the rest of us wore plastic imitations), Keith Benjamin, a research analyst at BancAmerica Robertson Stephens, gave a demo of Internetstocks.com for the benefit of several hundred sauced, sushi-stuffed investors and journalists.
"It's a stock market mood ring," he said, testing the waters from a raft in the middle of the Fairmont Hotel's Tonga Room Monday evening. He clicked through the site to show how a picture of his own smiling visage would indicate a good day on the street. Or, how on a bad day, his face would appear with a look of consternation over the caption "my brain hurts."
The site includes a "valuation calculator" that can be filled out with pertinent details in order to estimate what a private company would be worth in an initial public offering. A set of PowerPoint slides detailing market trends and research figures will also be made available for visitors to download and use in their own presentations.
But beyond the gimmicks and the casual first-person address, Benjamin said the site would focus each day on a company he thinks is worth knowing about, including those Robertson Stephens is taking public. Benjamin's coverage focuses on Internet content and digital media companies.
The crowd of investment bankers, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs chuckled as Benjamin directed the conversation to his in-laws, who were in the crowd, and pledged himself to providing information to help individuals invest wisely.
"This is real-time institutional information," said Christos Costakos, president and CEO of Etrade and a guest on Benjamin's boat. Etrade partnered with Robertson Stephens on the site to let investors trade on the spot.
As Web site launches go, the event was pretty festive. Costakos himself was bemused. "It's amazing how many people come for free drinks and food and to hear an analyst and CEO talk about a new Web site."
