Pricey Loans - with Perks

With interest rates heading up, demand for small business loans is leveling off. To attract small business clients, banks are increasing the number of specialty products they offer, including everything from e-commerce consulting and Internet account access to concierge services (Connecticut-based Liberty Bank Offers to make travel arrangements for clients). At the same time, loans are being bundled with other financial services, such as payroll and health, life, and auto insurance - offered free or at a reduced cost, providing a de facto discount on the loan. Some banks even throw in free personal checking accounts for the business owner.

(Business Week, "Pricey Loans - with Perks," February 28, 2000)

Scott McNealy with Sun Microsystems Inc.

Back in 1982, when he and three others started Sun Microsystems Inc., Scott McNealy, then 27, borrowed $15,000 in start-up capital from his father. Originally in charge of manufacturing for the budding business, McNealy didn't know a thing about high-tech. Today McNealy is recognized as a visionary in the high-tech industry and Sun Microsystems has earned a reputations as a leading provider of heavy-duty technologically sophisticated computers known as work-stations and servers that use the Unix operating system, generally considered more reliable than Microsoft's operating system. Sun is also the market leader in setting up systems for Internet companies.

(Entrepreneur, August 2000, page 85)

Concierge Makes Hay in Corporate Fields

As a sideline to her own $6,000,000 business, Capitol Concierge, which is based in Washington, D.C., Marge Naylor offers a one-day seminar to aspiring corporate concierges. In the first two years that she offered the course, 15 would-be concierges traveled from as far away as Brazil and shelled out up to $3,000 to attend. Naylor's instruction covers topics like how to budget expenses and recruit and retain customers. More than half of Naylor's students have gone on to start concierge company or incorporate them into existing businesses.

(Inc., "Concierge Makes Hay in Corporate Fields," September 1, 1998)

The Women's Technology Cluster

The Women's Technology Cluster is a nonprofit incubator in San Fransisco that's home to 10 new Internet and technology companies where women hold a major equity stake. Launched in February 1999, the Cluster is a kind of learning laboratory for start-ups. Start-up founders get mentoring and support from experienced business leaders. Entrepreneurs share office resources as well as information, contacts, and support. At the core of the Cluster is the idea that you're more likely to be successful if you don't go it alone.

(Fast Company, "Learning and Change," December 1999)

Scott Balmer - Founder and Chairman of Power Save International

Scott Balmer, 74, the founder and chairman of Power Save international in Tamarac, Florida, expected it would take three years to develop and market the technology for his energy-saving co-generators. In fact, it took 10. At one point, he went so far into debt that the lender foreclosed on his house, and he and his wife had to move to an apartment. They spent all their savings, cashed in all their insurance police, and were broke. Balmer has since gotten back on his feet, in part by bringing in other investors. He has also appointed a younger CEO, to assuage any investor's fear about continuity.

(Business Week, "Senior Start-ups," August 14, 2000)

Most Successful Technology Companies Were Started by University Students

Some of the most successful technology companies were started by university students. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard University to join Paul Allen to pursue their software programming efforts full-time. The result was Microsoft. And Yahoo's Jerry Yang and David Filo were Stanford University graduate students when they decided to turn their Web Site directory into a company. It's no wonder that venture capitalists have helped colleges create competitions for the best business plan; about 30 universities have such face-offs. MIT's competition produced Akamai Technologies, the Cambridge, Massachusetts, firm that boasts a market valuation of $25 Billion.

(Fortune, "Battle of the Business Plan," January 24, 2000)