My First Internet Business (Before I Knew I'd HAVE an Internet Business!)

Rediscover with Joel Comm

Before I ever had a website, I was already running what I like to call my first “Internet” business — years before most people had even heard of the Internet.

It started with an idea: a one-man software review magazine for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I wrote it, designed it in Aldus PageMaker, printed it, and bundled it with floppy disks full of shareware and games. Then my buddy and I loaded up the car and hand-delivered stacks to local computer stores.

What began as a nerdy side project turned into something bigger — a grassroots publishing operation that brought free software to readers, reviews to developers, and a sense of community to the early PC world. It was creative chaos… and it laid the foundation for everything that came next.

In this episode, I share:
• How I created The Dallas/Fort Worth Software Review in the mid ’90s
• The story behind my first “online” business — before the web existed
• Why floppies, PageMaker, and passion were all I needed to publish
• The moment at CES 1995 that introduced me to the World Wide Web

💬 Your turn:
How did you first discover the Internet?
Were you on BBS, CompuServe, or AOL? Drop your story below — I’d love to hear how you found your way online.

— Joel Comm

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