Instinet was founded by Jerome M. Pustilnik and Herbert R. Behrens and was incorporated in 1967 as Institutional Networks Corp. The founders aimed to compete with the New York Stock Exchange by means of computer links between major institutions, such as banks, mutual funds, and insurance companies, with no delays or intervening specialists.[1] Through the Instinet system, which went live in December 1969, the company provided computer services and a communications network for the automated buying and selling of equity securities on an anonymous, confidential basis.

Uptake of the platform was slow through the 1970s, and in 1983 Instinet turned to William A. "Bill" Lupien, a former Pacific Stock Exchange specialist, to run the company. Lupien decided to market the system more aggressively to the broker community, rather than focus exclusively on the buyside as his predecessors had. To expand its market, Lupien brought on board Fredric W. Rittereiser, formerly of Troster Singer and the Sherwood Group, as President and Chief Operating Officer[2] and David N. Rosensaft as Vice President (later SVP) of New Products Development[3] [4]. Together, they successfully introduced many innovations which made Instinet an integral tool for traders on both the "buy" and "sell" sides of the market.

I knew Bill Lupien personally in Los Angeles some years back and found him to be a seriously intelligent guy.