A tech-head who has long worked at the edge of new developments in broadband and the digital distribution of music, the Indiana-born Carpenter is also a former aerospace engineer, pro golfer (2 handicap) and Hollywood raconteur who palled around with Arsenio Hall and Jim Carrey at the Comedy Store in the mid-1980s. Not only that; he's a part-time hog farm flooring manufacturer. ("There's more technology involved than you'd think," he says.)

During his six years in Redmond, Carpenter was a key figure in Microsoft's effort to develop Internet tools. His job was to get the moribund interactive television group "technically geared to the Internet delivery space."

He also served as an unofficial liaison between the "tech-speak and creative people" at the Microsoft Network, and worked his Hollywood connections to recruit TV producer Joel Silver, Warner Bros. and Paramount as partners for the Internet Explorer 4.0 Channel Bar. Last year he created and led the Windows Media Player marketing group in its drive to dominate the field of streaming media.

Carpenter's new employer, DEN, in Santa Monica, Calif., aims to create a major entertainment brand for 14- to 24-year-olds. DEN presents niche-specific streaming video shows like "Redemption High" (Christian teens), "Tales From the Eastside" (young Latinos) and "Aggronation" (extreme sports fans).

The company filed papers on Sept. 17 for a $75 million IPO and announced plans to use $17 million of the proceeds to build a new online music business, in which Carpenter will play a key role. Carpenter, a big disco fan, has musical tastes that run to '70s mainstays like Heart and Foreigner. "My 8-track still works fine," he says.

You've spent years working in the "tool" business. What compelled you to leap over the fence and go work for a content company?

I've been told my personality is more in tune with [the personalities you find in] the interactive entertainment space. Part of the reason for that was the friends I had in L.A. in the mid-'80s, "nobody comics" like Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and Pauly Shore. (They've since percolated upward.)

Also, Microsoft was a smaller company six years ago than it is today. The vibe has changed. I was comfortable and challenged, but I missed the start-up mentality -- the drive to do something new.

Obviously, you felt confident enough about the Web's potential as an entertainment medium to join an online entertainment start-up. You must know that skeptics abound, and many don't have a high opinion of the entertainment stuff they've seen so far on the Web.

With the introduction of any new medium there is a transition period where people aren't sure what to do with it. The classic example is the transition from the stage to movies. Early film makers shot movies on a stage with curtains in the frame, just as if it were a play. Eventually, people figured out that movies didn't need stages anymore. I think the Internet is following the same path.

Just as with early films, programming folks are treating the Web as if it were a television set. There are tons of things that can be done in Web-based entertainment that aren't really possible in niche media like film, TV or print. At DEN we are creating an integrated, immersive experience that crosses text, graphics, interactivity and video in a unique way. I see rapid growth in the medium and associated technologies that is going to make Web-based entertainment much more engaging over time.

Your last position at Microsoft was director of marketing for Windows Media technology. How does it feel now to be working for a company that is, on the face of it, technology agnostic -- and worse, where Apple's QuickTime is the preferred player among visitors? Any pangs to push Microsoft technology?

No. My R&D group developed the first Linux QuickTime streaming server. It's more about trying to meet the needs of the audience and what they have. QuickTime is marginally more popular, but I wouldn't say it's rockin' above the Real Player or Windows Media.

Next page | What makes Bill Gates go "Wow" -- and when will we get "the jukebox in the sky"?