Ex-KITV anchor's startup shuts down

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

COOKE

Vitex Inc. opened its doors at the Manoa Innovation Center last June with four employees, seven interns and former KITV anchorman Cooke. Vitex had a partnership with the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones News Service to boil down seven or eight stories into 3 to 3 1/2 minutes worth of audio "headlines," which customers could access via telephone.

The stories were tailored to individual industries and prepared once in the morning and once at night.

"Our primary target was the executive on the move, commuting to work, traveling across the country," Cooke said. "Wherever they were, they could dial in to get industry-specific reports. It didn't require any new toys, any new hardware or software."

Cooke said he didn't know how many customers Vitex had, but the company hoped to expand to Europe and Asia.

Louis Bucalo, chairman of Titan Pharmaceuticals, started up Vitex in Hawai'i because the time zone made it easier to have employees work split shifts to deliver morning and evening updates for Mainland markets, Cooke said.

But money became a chronic issue.

"When we were trying to sell to corporate America, the Enron scandal hit and everyone was trying to cut back," Cooke said.

Vitex shut down on Dec. 20, 2002, with the hope that more money could be found. By March, the company was dead, Cooke said.

"I'm off seeking other employment; reinventing myself, so to speak," Cooke said, "and the company is done."

Shirley Daniel, managing director of the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship & E-Business at the University of Hawai'i, said: "My guess is this company had a service that was worthwhile but perhaps not essential. My guess is it's hard to get the kind of volume they needed to be profitable."

Studies show that only one out of every 10 startup companies survives beyond its second year, said Ken Tomi, program manager for incubation services at the Manoa Innovation Center.

Cooke, 46, isn't certain what his next job will be. But he promises it won't take him away at night from his 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, whom he never saw on weeknights while he sat at the anchor desk.