Sampa Corp., Redmond

Founded: Formed in March 2005 by Marcelo Calbucci, who previously spent seven years at Microsoft.

Employees: One

Financing: Self-financed, with plans to attract angel investors in the coming months.

Business: Easy-to-use online tools that allow consumers or small businesses to build Web sites. About 60 people are testing the service, with a full release expected next spring

"Today, you have your blog on Blogger, your pictures on Flickr, your bookmarks on del.icio.us, your parties on Evite -- so it is spread all over the place and you don't own your piece of the Internet," said Calbucci. "Everybody else is holding the data for you, so Sampa would basically give the user the power to control his Web presence the way he wants."

How different than Web 1.0: "It is not so much the technology as it is a mind shift for Internet users," said Calbucci. "Today, they are more receptive to Web-based applications. For example, if Salesforce.com was eight years ago, nobody would have used it because they didn't trust the Internet. People are more willing to have their pictures on the Internet and some of their data backed up on the Internet."What about Google: "I think Google is doing a lot of things in stealth mode that they are not showing, but I am sure they are going to do something in that area," he said. "For me, the biggest property on Google that would compete with me is Blogger -- but it is not some major confrontation between me and them. My product is more similar to what Microsoft Office Live is going to be."

The Web 2.0 hype factor: "I am trying not to make too much hype with what I am doing in relation to Web 2.0 because the phrase by itself is getting old. People are already tired of hearing about it," Calbucci said. "There are a lack of concrete examples of what it means, but probably in three years from now everyone will understand what this transition meant."

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