You can never stay still."Does he ever worry that he might be getting too old?"The Internet is certainly perceived as a youth-led industry; I may not be in my twenties or thirties but I can outrun these younger folks, out- think them and out-fight them.". In order to succeed, you have to live it, sleep it, and sit on the cutting edge. I work an 18- to 20-hour day - I've been doing that for two years now and it's been continuous It's getting even more intense now. In the US, I've seen confidence and willingness to make transactions increase in the 1990s, and this will happen more and more in the EU."Hollander is outwardly relaxed about his empire-building, but admits that behind this venture lies a lifetime of preparation."I have developed the personality of being obsessive, which is a positive on the Net - whereas not always positive in other businesses. The Internet feeds on obsessiveness, so it's a perfect fit for me in terms of ability and temperament."It also requires tremendous concentration. It doesn't mean that you eliminate the broker, but the Net allows someone to get value without paying for bricks and mortar. We are just eliminating some of the costs."Rates will go lower, to the point at which content becomes king with the ISPs.

There'll be a consolidation of ISPs - there are far too many in the UK. Also we'll see advances in broadband and with Wireless Application Protocol, more people accessing the Net via wireless devices."Our news and analysis and our alert tools and trading applications can tie into these, so investors can access information and act on this. The consumer wants more information and to make his or her own decisions. "When we first met with Freeserve, the UK had two free ISPs; now it has over 200. The whole environment is maturing, and consumers will become more demanding. Hollander believes the climate for buying financial services over the Internet is ripening."GlobalNet will help drive this demand by providing mortgages, insurance and other financial products on a personalised basis, faster and less expensively," he explains. "We'll be shaping these changes by offering the opportunity to invest or buy products online in markets throughout the European Union - saving time and money."But he also predicts rapid changes.

Clinching a two-year contract with Freeserve - which has invested $15m in Hollander's venture - has propelled GlobalNet into pole position."What led to that meeting was my search in the UK of who would be the pathfinders," he explains."I felt Freeserve would be the dominant one."He has also teamed up with World Online, on course to be the largest pan-European Internet service provider, and coming to the UK next month. Then he came to Europe and started to raise money to finance his own venture. "I saw massive weakness in portals serving the pan-European markets," he explains. "The specific failings of our competitors have been in not understanding what a financial portal is, not understanding the need to provide e-commerce execution and an international reach as part of their business model."He has achieved that international reach through strategic partnerships, including those with incubation company New Media Spark and with companies in the US and Italy. I also saw the lack of different financial tools and e-commerce platforms in the financial space."Hollander, who studied in Alabama and lived in Los Angeles before moving to London 10 years ago, spent a month travelling the US to examine financial portals in detail. I know the IPO [initial public offering] market and how it works from my prior banking experience, and understand the pros and cons of being regulated.