Building on the technology and knowledge he developed to serve that first customer, Kight led CheckFree thought the early days of the Internet and successfully competed against rivals such as IBM, Microsoft, First Data, and Citibank. As the company grew, Kight’s management team recognized that encouraging adoption and use of electronic bill payment required not only convincing billers and banks to take part but also successfully marketing the service to end users. The team also realized that banks and billers had many more important priorities than developing strategies for marketing electronic payment services. To maintain leadership among larger rivals, therefore, the company had to understand the marketplace better than anyone else and continually redefine strategies base upon consumer wants and needs.