It's sad that RB did finally "fall flat on its face"....but, of course...it happened after Rusty and his partners sold.
Here's a copy of an old article that may interest you and/or others.. from a post on RB.
Rusty Szurek becomes one of a growing number of students starting on-line businesses
by Christine Voliva
It’s 3 A.M. and while college students across the country are cramming for exams, writing last-minute papers and out partying, Rusty Szurek is finishing up a day at the office. He may be on the same time schedule as others his age, but life as a successful entrepreneur makes Rusty daringly different. As his college professor Brian Pfaffenberger recalls, "not only does Rusty have a natural sense for new ideas [but] he is missing the gene that stops people from jumping off of cliffs." The 21-year-old would be a junior this year at the University of Virginia, but he’s busy instead launching an Internet site which is now reportedly worth 150 million dollars.
It seems after his most recent jump from college into the corporate canyon, Szurek has landed on solid ground. The company that started out as a hobby for him and two college buddies is now an investor site called Raging Bull with real-time stock quotes, discussions, and financial news. Szurek is one of a growing number of college students using entrepreneurial and technical skills to create on-line businesses, but one of a select few with the guts to leave school and pursue such ventures.
How did it all begin? Bill Martin, a would-be junior at the University of Virginia and Greg Wright, a former student at Rutgers University, came up with the idea for the Web site in August of 1997. These hometown friends had The Bull up and running the following month. Szurek, a classmate of Martin’s at UVA, joined the group in February of 1998 and began to write financial articles for the site. By March, they were spending more time on the site than they were studying. Rusty felt he was learning a lot and the three were having fun doing it.
Despite pressure to secure a summer internship, Rusty gave up the resume booster and spent his time off working on Raging Bull with his partners. The entrepreneurial trio began working from the basement of Martin’s father’s office in Freehold, New Jersey in May. They put in 20 hour days, turning the site into much more than a hobby. And yet in a few months, they would have to give it up and return to college life. Two weeks before school started, however, Dave Wetherall, CEO of CMG Information Services, Inc.(a venture capital firm), was surfing the Web on vacation and discovered the Raging Bull site. He liked it so much he wanted more.
Andover-based CMGI owns part or all of more than 25 companies, including Lycos and ######### (known for their Internet search engines). The firm receives about 500 proposals a month and funds only one or two. So, when Wetherall contacted Raging Bull requesting a proposal, the co-founders did what most college students would do: "They wanted a proposal," Rusty recalls, "so we pulled an all-nighter and wrote one." It turned out that the all night study sessions of their not-so-distant past would pay off. After 40 hours of cramming and little sleep, Martin went to Massachusetts and came back with a deal.
Negotiations took place at Dave Wetherall’s home in Massachusetts over pizza and beer. Raging Bull would receive $2 million in funding, giving CMGI a 50 percent stake in the company. Szurek, Wright and Martin, as shareholders, still own the other half of their company.
What about college? Leaving school to pursue such cutting edge ideas is a difficult decision to make and in most cases advised against by parents and professionals. Both Martin and Szurek finished two years at the University of Virginia, and Wright has three years under his belt at Rutgers University. Martin remembers his Dean’s warning that he’d "be better of running a business after another year of commerce school." Szurek’s parents were skeptical, too, wondering what would happen if the business failed. Is it worth giving up a college degree?
John Leschke, who teaches Business Information Systems at the University of Virginia, explains the circumstances surrounding Raging Bull "were unique and time-sensitive... and not at all an educational detour." Throwing cautions to the side and following their instincts, Rusty and his partners understood that the nature of technology does not allow for hesitation. Raging Bull couldn’t wait until graduation day, so the three twenty-somethings have postponed their degrees for invaluable business experience.
A few weeks after Martin shook hands with Dave Wetherall, Raging Bull found a new home on the 5th floor of the CMGI building. Bill Martin recalls, "we showed up at the Andover office and there were computers set up on the desks and human relations people to help us settle in. It was awesome." In the spirit of the brainstorming sessions of the summer past, Szurek, Wright, and Martin keep their cubicles facing one another with an open space in the middle. This allows them to stand up and hold meetings the traditional way: yelling ideas back and forth.
In order to keep up with the growth of their site, the three-employee start up team has expanded. They hired an additional eight employees in August and, with the help of CMGI, began interviewing a senior team of executives. Szurek says it was strange hiring people to work above them in the company hierarchy, but it was great being able to select from such great people. Martin says "we’re seeing talent leaving traditional jobs because this [the Internet] is where the money is." For example, Raging Bull’s new CEO--Steve Kileen--was formerly a Senior VP at Fidelity and CEO of PC Direct, the first advertiser on AOL.
Despite the company’s shift to a more formal business setting, its founders keep their watches set on college time. "We still work the college hours," Martin says, "Greg [Wright] and I come in at 10 or 11 and people are working. It’s cool to be able to delegate." The co-workers are also good friends and live together, in what Rusty Szurek calls "the frat house." Although the house is just minutes from the office, every room is equip with a cable modem, allowing them to work at home after hours. In an e-mail sent just before putting his computer to sleep, Szurek gives a recap of his day: "Let’s see, it’s 3:30 A.M. and I have been working since about 8 this morning. I did take some hours off to play some basketball at the YMCA and then catch a bit of Ally [McBeal]."
The three men work 80 hour weeks, but Szurek says they haven’t forgotten how people their age relax and have fun. They go into Boston occasionally to check out the bar scene. And they still have cable TV. Sometimes during a weekend break, they’ll catch a movie and have a few drinks. While Szurek admits he misses the girls and the social aspects of college and Martin has given up some tee time, the founders of Raging Bull have no regrets about their decision to work full time. All three consider finishing school, but since it is growing so rapidly, Raging Bull remains the primary focus for these savvy young businessmen.
Raging Bull is a dynamic financial Web site that empowers investors with financial discussion and commentary. Users communicate via message boards, creating an on-line discussion about what’s new in the stock market. Bill Martin describes this feature "like a bulletin board on the wall. You can post messages and read someone else’s." There are 3,000 message boards on individual stocks, like Dell, Microsoft, or Yahoo!. Raging Bull also has a team of 30 freelance writers, providing visitors with original investment commentary and up-to-date market news. According to The Wall Street Journal, http://www.ragingbull.com is "one of the most popular places to discuss stocks on-line."
Young entrepreneurs like this Raging Bull trio have been quick to take advantage of this on-line interest, as well as the low overhead and quick startups the Internet provides. Once a site is up and running and a core group of people form relationships, the virtual community markets itself. According to Martin, forming a vibrant community is impossible unless you have enough people talking; "establishing a community is the hardest thing to do on the Internet and we [Raging Bull] did it first." The ability to reach millions of people instantly with new ideas and products is attractive to entrepreneurs of all ages. But, as Martin and his partners discovered, it takes creativity and enterprise to succeed.
The site’s innovative features keep it on top. Take the ignore button, for instance. If you are using the message boards to chat and find yourself annoyed with a particular user’s comments--ZAP. On your screen, he no longer exists. Of course, if you have a change of heart, you can bring him back. There is also a member-tracking feature. What if you think someone is contradicting something he said last week? By entering his screen name, you can find out how long he’s been a member and even go back and look at everything he’s ever posted to check his credibility. Or, if you find another user’s comments particularly valuable, bookmark him. The team is considering adding an instant message feature, allowing users to converse while logged on to the site.
Rusty and his partners, Bill Martin and Greg Wright, have created one of many developing on-line financial sites; but Raging Bull’s virtual community is one of the strongest on the Internet and it’s free. In fact, it is second only to Yahoo! in terms of conversation. By using the message boards, members are advocates for the site. The response is purely viral--the community grows without any marketing efforts. Since August, membership has grown from 8,000 to more than 125,000 and traffic has grown from 2 million visitors a month to 3 million in a single day. How can Raging Bull afford to offer free membership? How do they make their money? The answer: advertising.
By advertising on such a high-traffic site, companies can connect with serious personal investors. 73 percent of Raging Bull’s members are 35 or older, 61 percent earn over $60,000 a year, 69 percent have a net worth over $100,000, and 49 percent maintain a brokerage account. Advertisers are aware of Raging Bull’s demographics and are willing to spend big bucks to reach its members. In March alone, the company brought in $300,000 dollars in revenue.
Not only are the Raging Bull owners busy selling ad space, but fending off potential buyers. According to Bill Martin, there are a few companies interested in buying out their financial site. How much is the company worth? Right now, estimates range from $50 million to $150 million dollars. And if Raging Bull were to go public (sell shares of its stock to the public), the price would most likely triple. Szurek, Martin and Wright say "rather than sell out, we’re gonna hold on because we have our own community and that’s something nobody else has. We can license anything else we need." They admit cashing in now may be safer because no one knows what will become of the Internet. Despite the risk, the founders have chosen to stay and raise another round of funding for their company.
May 11th will mark the one-year anniversary of working full time on The Bull, and Rusty Szurek begins each day without regrets. No matter what happens, it was worth taking the risk. Szurek says, "we have fun, but it’s a different sort of fun...our business is at the point where this is it...if we execute then the successes and accomplishments could be huge; if not, we’re still 21!" And if the Raging Bull falls flat on its face, Rusty and his partners have plenty of new business ideas. Or, they could always finish college.
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