David A. Steinberg

For other people named David Steinberg, see David Steinberg (disambiguation).

David A. Steinberg is the founder and chief executive officer of CAIVIS Acquisitions, one of several companies that he started. The company seeks to acquire small cap companies and grow them fast.

Prior to this, he was known for his role as the founder and chief executive officer of InPhonic, an online wireless retailer based in Washington, DC. As the public face for Inphonic, he was praised for creating and growing the online business that dominates online sales for cell phones.^{[1] [2]} He was vilified for the growing the business too rapidly at the cost of customer service and revenue.^[3] This contributed to the downfall of Inphonic when the financial crisis of 2007–2010 began in 2007 with the credit squeeze on all companies.^[4]

He has served on the Washington & Jefferson College Board of Trustees.^[5]

Biography

• 1970 Birth ^[1]
• 1991 Graduated Washington & Jefferson College
• 1993 Founded Sterling Cellular, Inc.
• 1999 "Broked" up Sterling Cellular: Sold retail chain and telemarketing operations of Sterling Cellular
• 1999 Founded Inphonic, Inc.
• 2002 Greater Washington Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the communications category
• 2004 Member of the board for United States Chamber of Commerce
• 2007 Resigned from Inphonic
• 2007 Inphonic is bought by Versa Capital Management in bankruptcy court and renamed Simplexity
• 2007 Started CAIVIS Acquisition Corp

Career

In 1993 David Steinberg founded Sterling Cellular, Inc. in the basement of his house in Bethesda, Maryland with the use of maxed out credit cards and a parental loan.^[6] Sterling Cellular grossed $1.3 million in sales its first year in business. It was a business that sold cellular phones with high quality customer service. Sterling offered free, on-time delivery and a warranty/repair program from day one and a free loaner phone program from its third month. By 1997 Sterling Cellular grew to 12 retail locations and $22 million in sales.^[7]

Recognizing the opportunity that the internet provided for selling cell phones, Mr. Steinberg broke up Sterling Cellular. He sold off the retail chain and telemarketing operations of Sterling Cellular and founded Inphonic, Inc. Over a seven year period, Inphonic grew into the largest seller of new cell phones on the internet with over $300 million in revenue.^[1][8] As a result of the company's rapid growth, in November 2007, InPhonic filed a Chapter 11 petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.^[9]

After Inphonic, Steinberg secured support to start a new corporation CAIVIS Acquisition Corp. Per their website, CAIVIS Acquisition Corp is an investment firm looking to purchase small companies in the internet space and combine them in order to maximize their opportunities.^[10] CAIVIS acts like a holding company to achieve an economy of scale for the standard infrastructure required for every internet business: such as human resources, legal and accounting departments. At the same time there is a multiple arbitrage play in combining the smaller companies into a larger business. Small companies typically command a PE of 5 while larger companies command a PE of 10. In a recent interview,^[11] CAIVIS's strategy is outlined by Mr. Steinberg.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "The Great Persuader". 2005. http://www.inc.com/magazine/20050301/great-persuader.html. Retrieved 2009-12-29. 
2. ^ "Wireless Frenzy". Forbes. 2003. http://www.forbes.com/2003/11/18/cz_af_1118compliance.html. Retrieved 2010-01-20. 
3. ^ "Consumer Complaints". 2007. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/02/inphonic_settlement.html. Retrieved 2010-01-18. 
4. ^ Clabaugh, Jeff (2007-11-08). "Inphonic Files Bankruptcy". http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2007/11/05/daily38.html. Retrieved 2010-01-18. 
5. ^ "W&J: Board of Trustees". W&J College Website. Washington & Jefferson College. http://www.washjeff.edu/content.aspx?section=1352&menu_id=378&crumb=649&id=90. Retrieved 2010-02-28. 
6. ^ "When 2 Heads are Better than 1". 2001. http://wireless.sys-con.com/node/40825. Retrieved 2010-01-20. 
7. ^ Martin, Heather (1997-03-31). "Sales Force". http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/1997/03/31/smallb1.html. Retrieved 2009-12-29. 
8. ^ "Wireless gambles paying off". 2005. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-130356993.html. Retrieved 2010-01-20. 
9. ^ "Inphonic LinkedIn". 2007. http://www.linkedin.com/companies/inphonic. Retrieved 2009-12-29. 
10. ^ "Caivis Acquisition Corp". 2007. http://www.caivis.com. Retrieved 2009-12-29. 
11. ^ "Entrepeneur Network". 2010. http://www.jdkathuria.com/2010/10/david-steinberg-how-a-versatile-entrepreneur-networks/. Retrieved 2010-10-29. 

External links

• Sterling Cellular profile
• Interview With David Steinberg
• "The Great Persuader", inc.com
• CAIVIS Acquisition Corp
• Inphonic rebate

Persondata
Name	Steinberg, David A.
Alternative names
Short description	CEO, entrepreneur
Date of birth	1970
Place of birth	United States
Date of death
Place of death