A Dot-Com Die-Hard

By Robert Johnson, The New York Times
Posted: 08/14/05

David Lord is not a changed man. Though his company, Toysmart, failed as an online retailer despite backing from the Walt Disney Company, he is still a dot-com believer.

Mr. Lord, 40, is again heading an Internet business, raising millions of dollars from investors and talking about the company's prospects for big sales increases. This time, he is president and chief operating officer of RazorGator. Despite its name, the company sells neither razors nor alligators; the name was picked mainly to be catchy.

The company provides its customers a marketplace to buy and sell tickets to sports, music and other events. It specializes in hard-to-get seats. The service is free for sellers to use, but RazorGator marks up the ticket price between 14 percent and 25 percent to cover business expenses.

Mr. Lord began working with RazorGator as a consultant in 2004; it hired him to run the company last September. "I was introduced to the company by a venture-capital friend of mine," he said.

RazorGator, which employs more than 100 people and is based in Beverly Hills, Calif., expects sales to grow about 50 percent this year, to more than $50 million, Mr. Lord said.

Some 200 employees of Toysmart lost their jobs when Disney, which had a majority stake, pulled the plug on the company in May 2000. If an online retailer couldn't survive despite a partnership with the king of the family consumer market, why is Mr. Lord so optimistic about RazorGator?

For one thing, he said, "tickets can be electronic," allowing an entire transaction to be completed online. In addition, RazorGator caters to high-paying corporate clients and other groups - arranging such amenities as restaurant reservations near the site of the concert or sports event. The overall economy is also more stable now, he said. "I still think it was the right model, just the wrong time," Mr. Lord said of Toysmart, where he was chief executive. "But I think I learned a lot." Apparently, his investors think so as well; Mr. Lord said he had raised $26 million in venture capital for RazorGator.

He and his wife, Tracey, have moved with their three daughters, ages 10 to 14, from Boston to Agoura Hills, Calif. The 22-mile commute to Beverly Hills takes "anywhere from 40 minutes to two hours, depending on traffic," he said. Robert Johnson.