Knowledge Mosaic Inc. Profiled in Puget Sound Business Journal

We were recently the subject of a story in the widely circulated Puget Sound Journal, an affiliate of the American City Business Journals, Inc. We reprint the text of the article here. For photos, hyperlinks, and additional information, please see below for a link to the story.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Knowledge Mosaic provides news, information about regulatory practices and requirements   

from the Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Clay Holtzman, Staff Writer

With the collapse of the financial markets in 2008, Peter Schwartz trusts that his customers will be searching for a little more knowledge in the new year.

Schwartz is founder and president of Seattle-based Knowledge Mosaic LLC, an online provider of news and information about regulatory practices and requirements, particularly in securities markets. The company also provides similar services for the energy and communications industries.

Since its founding in 2001, the company has fallen short of profitability, but Schwartz said it broke even in 2008 with sales of about $2 million. Schwartz, a former political science professor who has worked for 15 years in online startups, believes an increased focus on regulation and compliance — as well as an improvement of his company’s core offering — could benefit his company during the coming year.

“That is kind of what we are counting on,” Schwartz said.

Knowledge Mosaic, which employs about 20, sells primarily to accountants and lawyers servicing the securities industry. The company touts more than 600 customers including Microsoft, Amazon.com, Boeing and General Electric. Although in 2008 the company lost several clients, including Washington Mutual, Bear Stearns and the Heller Ehrman law firm, no one customer accounts for more than 8 percent of annual revenue so the company is somewhat buffeted from the loss of a few large customers, according to Schwartz.

“We don’t know for sure, but my guess has always been that we would be more recession-proof than a lot of other companies. So far that is true,” Schwartz said..

Knowledge Mosaic is backed by private investors, but has not received any venture capital. Schwartz said the company does not expect to receive a capital injection in 2009.

The company’s flagship product is called Securities Mosaic, which gives customers the latest details on regulation practices, disclosure requirements, guidance, enforcement and compilation of securities-related news. Schwartz, who also keeps a blog about the industry, last year began sharing his postings on the political website Huffington Post.

The goal is to give Knowledge Mosaic’s clients relevant news and information as soon as industry and government makes them available. “The last thing attorneys want is to have their clients learn something before they do,” Schwartz said.

In 2008, the company began adding more information to its Securities Mosaic, including 200 new searchable data sets pulled from a dozen federal financial regulatory bodies. Schwartz said with more companies accepting more oversight — such as General Motors’ financing affiliate GMAC, which in exchange for federal bailout money agreed to become a bank holding company regulated by the Federal Reserve — Knowledge Mosaic’s sales could increase this year.

“They are going to accept this in exchange for their survival,” Schwartz said.

Knowledge Mosaic competes against a variety of companies, including Westlaw and LexisNexis. But Schwartz said as law firms and companies try to reduce costs in the face of the recession, he believes they could dump more expensive competitors and opt for his company’s services. Individual subscriptions to Knowledge Mosaic start at about $1,250 a year.