Member-only storyAnna MurrayFollowCode Like A Girl--Share“emedia is the oldest women-owned web company in continual operation.”I make this assertion because, as far as I can tell, it’s true.I am a member of the “Class of 1996.” That was the year a bunch of us were founding interactive companies. It was a gold-rush time to start a web agency. The names back then were Giant Step, Agency.com, and Razorfish. Websites had digital counters; Java still meant coffee; and the word “google” would call to mind only those small plastic eyes with the black wiggly centers.I wasn’t thinking about diversity in web startups back then. All of us were still trying to prove the web was going to be A Thing. We web founders spent most of our time explaining to people what the Internet was, how it applied to business, and that it was probably important.Today, there’s barely a distinction between “media” and “online media,” or between “software” and “online software.” This loss of identity — the blending of a new technology into the fabric of everything surrounding it — proves the technology has truly arrived.People ask me a lot about my company name — emedia. Are we a media company? What kind of name is that for a technology consulting company? The answer lies in that legendary year of 1996. That was when everyone began to put an “e” in front of a word to indicate that it was the online version of the traditional Thing. We got e-mail, e-commerce, and e-learning. I founded my company to provide people with services to take their traditional communication — print, video, audio — to the web. Hence e-media.The world of 1996 was very small. I never met another female web agency founder. I would like to know if there was one. For now, emedia will continue bear the self-declared title of the “oldest women-owned web company in continual operation.” If another woman founder steps forward to identify herself, I will happily share the tiara.Anna Murray is a tech entrepreneur and founder of emedia. She is the author of several books, a noted speaker, and has consulted with brands worldwide on their digital strategies. She is a graduate of Yale and Columbia universities.----Code Like A GirlTech expert, novelist, and essay writer with an ticklish funny bone. My novel, “Greedy Heart,” is First Best Book Finalist in the VIVIAN Awards.Anna Murray--ayşe bilge gündüzinCode Like A Girl--10Aleksandra Liutikova aka Java SenoritainCode Like A Girl--8Anna MurrayinThe Writing Cooperative--37Isaac Saul--360Damian ClarkinMind Cafe--50Scott Galloway--14Multiplatform.AI--Dr. Ashish BamaniainLevel Up Coding--44Zulie RaneinBetter Marketing--98HelpStatusAboutCareersBlogPrivacyTermsText to speechTeams