Geeknet

Geeknet, Inc.

Company type	Public (formerly)
Industry	Software, online retail
Predecessor	VA Research
Founded	November 1993 (1993-11)
Founder	Larry Augustin, James Vera
Defunct	July 2015 (2015-07)
Fate	Acquired by GameStop
Headquarters	Fairfax County, Virginia , United States
Key people	Scott Kauffman (former CEO), Kenneth Langone (executive chairman)
Products	ThinkGeek, SourceForge, Slashdot, Freecode
Number of employees	153 (hardware division terminated in 2001)

Geeknet was a firm dedicated to serving the "geek" demographic by offering products connected to films, television series, and gaming. In July 2015, it became part of GameStop through acquisition.

The company originated as VA Research in 1993, founded by Stanford alumnus Larry Augustin alongside James Vera. Over time, it underwent several rebrandings, including VA Linux Systems (1999–2001), VA Software (2001–2007), and SourceForge (2007–2009). Its main office was situated in Fairfax County, Virginia.

VA Research

Established in November 1993 by entrepreneurs Larry Augustin and James Vera, VA Research concentrated on manufacturing and marketing personal computers preloaded with the Linux operating system, providing an affordable alternative to Unix workstations. By 1998, the company had surpassed $100 million in revenue with a profit margin around 10%, securing roughly one-fifth of the Linux hardware market share.

In October 1998, Intel and Sequoia Capital invested $5.4 million in the company. During 1999, VA Research expanded its operations by acquiring Enlightenment Solutions, Electric Lichen L.L.C., and Linux Hardware Solutions. That same year, it obtained the license to manage the linux.com domain and inaugurated a Linux Labs division staffed by leading developers.

VA Research created SourceForge, an open-source software development platform publicly launched at Comdex in November 1999. The company also dedicated efforts to adapting Linux for Intel's IA-64 architecture. Additional funding rounds brought in $25 million from investors including Intel, Sequoia Capital, and Silicon Graphics.

Among its prominent clients were Akamai Technologies and eToys.com. The firm rebranded as VA Linux Systems and went public on December 9, 1999, raising $132 million with an initial share price of $30. Shares opened at $299 and closed at $239.25 on the first day of trading, achieving an unprecedented 698% increase. Due to this stock surge, founder Larry Augustin briefly attained billionaire status on paper.

After the dot-com bubble collapsed, share prices fell drastically—from $299 at IPO to $8.49 within one year and further down to $1.19 by December 2002. In February 2000, VA Linux acquired Andover.net for $800 million, which brought popular online media assets like Slashdot, Freshmeat, linux.com, and ThinkGeek into its portfolio. This acquisition marked a strategic pivot toward specialized media and software development support services.

In collaboration with Sumitomo Corporation, VA Linux launched a Japanese branch in September 2000 aimed at advancing Linux adoption in Japan.

Financial performance showed growth from $5.5 million in fiscal 1998 to $17.7 million in 1999, reaching $120.3 million in fiscal 2000. In December 2000, VA Linux introduced SourceForge OnSite, an enterprise-grade version of its software development platform.

VA Software

By 2001, VA Linux’s original hardware segment faced mounting pressure from competitors such as Dell, which offered Linux-installed systems directly. The stock price fell sharply from its December 1999 high of $242.88 to $7.13 by January 2001.

On June 26, 2001, VA Linux withdrew from hardware manufacturing to concentrate solely on software development. This decision led to the termination of all 153 employees involved in hardware operations. Subsequently, on December 6, 2001, the company changed its name to VA Software to emphasize its new focus on software solutions and specialized news services; however, its Japanese subsidiary continued operating under "VA Linux Systems Japan K.K."

Following an earnings forecast downgrade, the stock experienced a 42% decline on January 2, 2002.

SourceForge and OSDN

In December 2003, VA Software introduced SourceForge Enterprise Edition, a version rewritten in Java designed to facilitate offshore software development projects.

By April 2004, the company’s focus shifted primarily to SourceForge, an online platform for software, and OSDN, a collection of IT and software development websites that had been rebranded as the Open Source Technology Group (OSTG). At this point, the stock price was $1.94 per share.

In January 2006, VA Software divested Animation Factory, selling it to Jupitermedia Corporation.

On April 24, 2007, VA Software transferred ownership of SourceForge Enterprise Edition to CollabNet. Shortly thereafter, on May 24, 2007, the company adopted the name SourceForge Inc. and consolidated with OSTG.

Scott Kauffman took on the role of president and CEO of SourceForge on January 5, 2009.

Geeknet

In November 2009, SourceForge, Inc. underwent a rebranding to become Geeknet, Inc.

Scott Kauffman stepped down as Geeknet's president and CEO in August 2010, with executive chairman Kenneth Langone stepping in as his replacement. Soon after, COO Jason Baird, CMO Michael Rudolph, and CTO Jay Seirmarco also departed from the company. In January 2011, Matthew C. Blank, formerly CEO of Showtime Networks, joined Geeknet’s board of directors.

During that year, Geeknet renamed its Freshmeat website to Freecode. In September 2012, Dice Holdings acquired Slashdot, SourceForge, and Freecode for $20 million, leaving ThinkGeek as Geeknet’s main remaining asset.

In May 2015, Hot Topic made a $122 million bid to purchase Geeknet. However, GameStop surpassed this offer with a $140 million bid and finalized the acquisition in July 2015. This deal enabled GameStop to broaden its portfolio by incorporating ThinkGeek’s specialized market presence and e-commerce operations.

External links

• VA Linux Systems Japan K.K.