Eudald Domènech Riera,
(
Ripoll
Ripoll () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Ripollès, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is located on confluence of the Ter river and its tributary Freser, next to the Pyrenees near the border of France. The population was 11 ...
, 1962), is a Spanish businessman linked to
new technologies
Emerging technologies are technologies whose development, practical applications, or both are still largely unrealized. These technologies are generally new but also include old technologies finding new applications. Emerging technologies are of ...
and
the Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a network of networks that consists of private, publ ...
, considered "the first businessman in Spain on the Internet."
He was the founder of
Servicom, the first private company to offer internet connection and internet services all over Spain. He was also co-founder of World Online, founder of Telépolis, co-founder of InOutTV, SincroGuiaTV and Total Channel, among other ''
startups
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses tha ...
''.
Biography
Domènech trained as a draftsman, although at the age of nineteen he set up a nightclub in his native Ripoll, with a radio station installed in the DJ booth, through which he broadcast commercial advertisements interspersed between the musical pieces. Since then he decided to dedicate himself to advertising and ''marketing'',
and in 1993 he started an advertising business in
Vic
Vic, vic or VIC may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Vic (name), a list of people, fictional characters and mascots with the given name
* V.I.C. (rapper) (born 1987), stage name of an American rapper
Places
* Vic, Spain, a town and ...
h . That same year he founded Servicom, a pioneering internet company in Spain and where he served as
executive director until 1995, when he left the company. Since then he has been involved in important corporate operations in the field of telecommunications, although he also suffered various failures.
The journalist Nuria Almiron wrote in her book ''Cibermillonarios'' (2000): "He has gone bankrupt several times, but he has refloated from all of them."
Founded companies
A company with the name
Servicom was founded by Eudald Domènech in 1993, with just over 10 million pesetas. It used to distribute several databases of general information produced by external institutions. In the beginning, the environment supported by Alberto Lozano,
worked with
FirstClass
FirstClass is a client–server groupware, email, online conferencing, voice and fax services, and bulletin-board system for Windows, macOS, and Linux. FirstClass's primary markets are the higher-education and K-12 education sectors, includin ...
only for
Macintosh
Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...
, although it was later adapted for
IBM-PC
The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible ''de facto'' standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a ...
and offered selections from the newspapers ''
El Mundo'' and ''
El Periódico de Catalunya
EL, El or el may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional entities
* El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit
* Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things''
* El, fami ...
'', and magazines such as ''
El Temps
''El Temps'' (; 'The Times') is a weekly newsmagazine, published in Valencia by ''Edicions del País Valencià'' since 1984. It is distributed throughout the whole Països Catalans. It is edited by Eliseu Climent. The publication has offices in ...
'' . Signing up for the service cost 3220 pta, the connection ''kit:'' 4590 pta, and the basic monthly fee: 1380 pta.
Considered the first "independent" internet service in Spain, Goya, somewhat earlier, could not be considered independent or private, since it was created by the administration limited to the university environment and RedesTv did not provide internet access until 1999. After many drawbacks, Servicom became the second internet access provider that tens of thousands of Spanish users met.
After Servicom, in January 1996 Domènech created a new internet portal and the first virtual community in Spain, Telepolis. When EresMas wanted to open its market online, and paid about 14.000 million pesetas for Telépolis, in
Retevisión
Retevisión was a Spain, Spanish telecommunications company; of which a portion of it continues to exist as Cellnex, Cellnex Telecom, which was spun off from Abertis in 2015.
History
Retevisión was founded in 1989 as a public company, a divis ...
shares.
probably the last major independent portal left on the Spanish Internet.
World Online was a European
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...
(ISP) co-founded by Eudald Domènech,
from the late 1990s with the
dotcom bubble
The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Intern ...
.
InOutTV is a company founded by Eudald Domènech in 2000, which allowed you to watch Spanish television channels.
In 2012 InOutTV was liquidated, with an accumulated liability of seven million euros.
SincroGuiaTV is an application launched by InOutTV (Eudald Domènech) to consult the programming of Spanish television channels "in Spain" (analog and DTT).
Total Channel is a service with twelve pay channels in Spanish territory, co-founded by Eudald Domènech.
In 2013 he sold the company to
Mediapro
Mediaproducción, S.L.U., better known as Mediapro, is a multimedia communications group in Spain founded in April 1994 in Barcelona. The company is well involved in movie and television production.
The company holds branch offices in Madrid, S ...
.
Work
* ''Negocios 3.0: mitos y realidades de internet y la nueva economía'' (Ediciones B, 2011). Domènech, Eudald; Almiron, Nuria.
References
{{Reflist, 2
External links
* Blog
Desde la NubeArchive
Living people
Spanish company founders
1962 births
People from Ripollès
Businesspeople from Catalonia
20th-century Spanish businesspeople
21st-century Spanish businesspeople