In its initial form, Pathfinder was one of the first web portals, created as Time Warner's entry onto the Internet.

The site opened on October 24, 1994, with a small content team led by Paul Sagan, Walter Isaacson, James Kinsella, Bruce Judson, Craig Bromberg, Oliver Knowlton, and Curt Viebranz.

Pathfinder's own staff were shocked when Time Inc. senior manager Don Logan publicly derided Pathfinder.com at an external analyst's meeting as a "black hole" of unprofitability.

Many early tech journalists and writers passed through its doors, including Walter Isaacson, James Kinsella (MSNBC), Daniel Okrent, John R. Quain (CBS News Up to the Minute and J-Q on Technology), John Voelcker (GreenCarReports.com), Josh Quittner, Lev Grossman, Maura Johnston and Steven Petrow.

Some analysts believe that Pathfinder's failure led Time Warner's senior managers to conclude that it was impossible to run a successful Internet portal, and this judgement led directly to Time Warner pursuing its eventual merger with AOL, a merger which unsuccessfully sought to generate "synergy" between the two corporate giants.