Five entrepreneurs with solid records back in ring
Pacific Northwest is seen as a fertile environment
Friday, December 31, 2004
By JOHN COOK
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
The entrepreneurial juices are flowing once again as several heavyweights from the Seattle business community dust off their gloves and return to the ring.
Some are former Microsoft Corp. executives who have built successful companies, while others are old-fashioned entrepreneurs who are capitalizing on changes in the airline, Internet or consumer product industries.
Whatever their backgrounds, the fact that they are starting companies in Seattle is a good thing.
It is tough work coming up with a short list of entrepreneurs from the Pacific Northwest, a place that for several reasons -- weather, geography and history among them -- seems to spawn new approaches to business.
''The Northwest has a lot of the things we like about West Coast entrepreneurs,'' said David Silverman, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist with 3i. ''You have all the benefits of the rugged individualism and fresh thinking, without the negative egotism that nauseates people about northern California.''
Now, with that said, here are five entrepreneurs worth watching in the coming year.
Bill Boyer: Look up the word ''entrepreneur'' in the dictionary and you should find a photograph of Bill Boyer.
The 40-year-old college dropout runs two coffee shops and a day spa in Lakewood -- and that's in his spare time.
Most of Boyer's work day is spent as chairman of Tacoma-based APS, a seven-person company he founded that has sold close to 10,000 portable entertainment devices to the world's biggest airlines. Airline passengers rent the battery-powered device, known as the digEplayer, so they can watch movies or television shows on long flights.
APS received an added boost in October when aircraft parts distributor Wencor bought the profitable company. The sale is not slowing Boyer, who still puts in 10 to 12 hour days wooing customers and developing new products for airlines.
Boyer also is writing a book -- from a ''blue-collar perspective'' -- about what it takes to start new businesses. And we forgot to mention that this workaholic, who got his start as an Alaska Airlines baggage handler, continues to hold a part-time job for the carrier at Sea-Tac Airport.
''It is kind of a stress relief for me,'' said Boyer, who works about 30 hours a month at Alaska.
Boyer's entrepreneurial energy does not appear to be waning. He is hatching a plan to start a low-cost commuter airline, an ambitious goal that he admits presents a new set of challenges.
''That's my dream,'' said Boyer, who has lined up investors, started writing a business plan and identified key routes. ''Once you have done it, you know how to do things. I have the confidence in myself that I can start it and finish it.''
Richard Barton: After stepping down from Expedia in March 2003, Richard Barton disappeared from the high-tech rat race. The founder and former chief executive of Expedia, who built the Bellevue company into the largest online travel agency, moved to Italy with his family for a yearlong sabbatical.
But now, the 37-year-old executive is back in Seattle. And he has started a new Internet services company called Zillow with Lloyd Frink, former Expedia senior vice president. They aren't disclosing much about the new company, although Barton said it will not compete with Expedia. More details are expected to emerge in the coming year, he said.
''We've taken a few spills and have learned a thing or two,'' Barton said in an e-mail response. ''I'd also forgotten just how much fun it is to be small, architecting version one of something that we think has the potential to change the world.''
Barton founded Expedia within Microsoft in 1994, took it public in 1999 and sold the remaining 46 percent of the company to IAC/InterActive Corp. for $3.3 billion in 2003. Barton, who holds a degree in industrial engineering from Stanford University, worked at Microsoft from 1991 to 1994.
Those who know Barton say he is a master marketer who expertly guided Expedia through the Microsoft bureaucracy and persuaded Bill Gates to place a bet on online travel.
''I think of Microsoft as Expedia's velvet incubator and Bill as our patient, supportive venture capitalist,'' Barton said. ''It was a lovely place to start up a company.''
With Zillow, it will be interesting to see how Barton operates without the support of a corporate parent. That's a challenge that the father of three young children is currently embracing.
''Cooking up Zillow with Lloyd, out on our own, is new kind of thrill -- it's walking the tightrope without a net this time.''
David Giuliani: Ever used a Sonicare electronic toothbrush? You may want to thank David Giuliani, who led Snoqualmie-based Optiva Corp. until its sale to Royal Philips Electronics in 2000.
Now, Giuliani, who was named ''Entrepreneur of the Year'' by the Small Business Administration in 1997, is trying to do for skin care what he did for dental hygiene.
Giuliani, along with several former Optiva employees, unveiled a new skin care brush in October that uses sonic technology to gently remove makeup, oil and dirt. Dubbed the Clarisonic, the $195, battery-powered device features an oscillating brush head that cleanses the forehead, chin, nose and cheeks. It also could have applications in the treatment of skin disorders such as acne and psoriasis.
Under development for three years at Bellevue-based Pacific Bioscience Laboratories, the Clarisonic will meet the ultimate test in 2005 as the company begins widescale sales of the device to dermatologists, plastic surgeons and other medical professionals.
If it is half as successful as the Sonicare toothbrush, Giuliani could have another major hit on his hands. The 58-year-old entrepreneur, who has started four medical device and consumer product companies during his career, believes that the Clarisonic has what it takes to transform skin care.
''We can't build enough of them,'' said Giuliani, whose factory is in the Factoria neighborhood of Bellevue. ''On a comparative basis, it shows all signs of exceeding Sonicare.''
Giuliani, the author of more than a dozen patents and an electrical engineering graduate of the University of California-Santa Barbara, is not the only Optiva alumnus worth noting. Jack Gallagher, the former president of Optiva, raised $3 million earlier this year for a new venture called Second Act Partners. Gallagher is not saying much about the company, which is developing a consumer health care device to improve oral health. Stay tuned.
Russ Horowitz: Aging rock 'n' roll stars often reconnect for reunion tours. The same could be said for Marchex co-founder Russ Horowitz, 38, who assembled the ''old band'' from the days when he led Internet superstar Go2Net.
The 1984 graduate of Lakeside High School (the same school that produced technology entrepreneurs Gates and Paul Allen) created Marchex with four former Go2Net executives in January 2003. Since then, the chief executive of the online marketing firm has acquired three companies, conducted an initial public offering and increased staffing to 207 people.
It is on track to do more than $43 million in sales this year, and earlier this month, it announced plans for a $180 million public offering -- not bad for a company that didn't exist 24 months ago.
Horowitz, who sold Go2Net to InfoSpace four years ago in a $2.7 billion stock deal, appears to be taking a page out of the old playbook to build Marchex. Growing quickly through acquisitions and staying laser-focused on the bottom line, Horowitz is starting to make a mark in the highly lucrative online marketing and Internet search categories.
In the biggest acquisition in the company's history, Marchex recently announced the purchase of thousands of Web sites -- including VideoCamera.com, Debts.com and LasVegasVacations.com.
Horowitz, who also founded a sports apparel firm and a merchant bank, has the tendency to quietly -- and unconventionally -- build big companies in the shadows.
Whether he will hit the jackpot with Marchex remains to be seen. But some early investors, who have watched shares of the company more than triple since its IPO in March, are betting that he will.
Jeremy Jaech: Jeremy Jaech turned 50 Wednesday. And while the co-founder of two of Seattle's most successful software companies could easily retire from the high-tech industry, Jaech is quietly working on his next startup.
Jaech, who co-founded desktop publishing pioneer Aldus in the 1980s and graphics software giant Visio in the 1990s, teamed up with his former business partners at Visio about a year ago to create The Graw Group.
The University of Washington computer science graduate also landed money from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and August Capital, two Silicon Valley venture capital powerhouses that backed Visio before it was sold to Microsoft for $1.3 billion.
Despite the high-profile team and backers, Jaech still isn't saying much about The Graw Group. It is said to be helping families, work groups and other communities stay connected through the Internet, an emerging and highly competitive area that sometimes gets dubbed social networking.
Jaech said the company plans to expand the circle of users testing the technology in January, with a commercial launch most likely in the spring.
A name change and rebranding effort also is in the works for early next year, he said.
After the blockbuster successes of Aldus and Visio, Jaech could hit the trifecta if The Graw Group meets expectations.
THE SERIES
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Business section is looking at what's ahead for the local economy with a six-day series, each day focusing on five things to watch in 2005.
Tuesday: Business districts
Wednesday: Companies
Yesterday: Technology trends and business issues
Today: Entrepreneurs
Tomorrow: Executives
Monday: Initial public offerings
P-I reporter John Cook can be reached at 206-448-8075 or johncook@seattlepi.com
