Earn and learn

  • Associated Press
  • Saturday, August 21, 2004 9:00pm
  • Business

In between classes, working out at the gym and volunteering as a reserve police officer, Lance Larson spent five to six hours each night on his Web hosting business in his college dorm room.

He started the business with money out of his own pocket – $10,000 in savings from high school computer repair and paper delivery jobs – and refused to accept any outside funding offers.

Now, Larson says OC Hosting Inc. serves 3,500 clients and generates revenues of $1 million a year.

“I knew one day it would pay off, and sure enough, it is,” said Larson, who graduated from San Diego State University this spring with a degree in information systems. He plans on getting a master’s degree in homeland security as he continues to operate OC Hosting.

Today’s college students are well aware of the dot-com busts of the late 1990s. But they are still eager as ever to take a stab at entrepreneurship – if not for the potential riches made by billionaires such as Michael Dell or Bill Gates, then for the satisfaction of self-employment and invaluable business experience.

Though mixing academics with business can be tricky, college may actually be the ideal time to pursue entrepreneurship. Because students are often free from real-world concerns like finding a job or buying a house, many say they are able to take greater risks and spend more time developing a business.

“School work is not nine to five – you can kind of push it around,” said Anthony Casalena, a senior at the University of Maryland and owner of a Web publishing service, Squarespace.com.

Tometria Bean, a 23-year-old single mother and student at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, said a busy schedule did not stop her from establishing her own entertainment agency.

“It all comes down to time management,” Bean said. “People that know me know I live by a calendar.”

Bean, who plans on pursuing her business after she graduates next year, said she’s spending 60 hours a week running the agency this summer.

Nobody knows exactly how many college entrepreneurs are out there, but anecdotal evidence shows their numbers are growing, said Gerry Hills, director of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization, which Hills founded five years ago, has grown into a network of 120 chapters and 14,000 members nationwide.

In response to burgeoning interest, entrepreneurial education has also expanded significantly since the 1980s. And in the last five or six years, colleges and universities have added more substantial programs, including entrepreneurial majors, minors and business plan competitions. According to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a nonprofit that supports entrepreneurship, at least 1,500 colleges and universities provide training for young entrepreneurs.

“In the past 10 years, it’s gone from being something schools wouldn’t admit to having to something that they won’t admit that they don’t have,” said Phil Weilerstein, executive director of the National Collegiate Investors and Innovators Association.

Weilerstein noted that, several years after the dot-com bubble burst, a certain cynicism still exists around tech-based ventures in particular. However, added caution is not necessarily a bad thing, he said.

“There is an expectation of rigor that didn’t exist during the days of the boom,” Weilerstein said. “And that’s the norm rather than any kind of backlash.”

Many entrepreneurs admit that in addition to strict budgeting and hard work, luck and timing have also played key roles in their success.

Craig Powell said he thought he was actually lucky for starting his online business, ConnectEdu, at a time when venture capital was drying up. Even after an investor made a substantial offer of cash, Powell said he only accepted a small portion.

“It’s like if your parents gave you a $25 allowance rather than a $250 allowance – you’re a lot more thoughtful,” he said.

The kind of advice small-business owners should follow also applies to young entrepreneurs, said Andrew Zacharakis, acting director of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. For example, they should concentrate on the needs of their customers, and save up enough money to sustain their businesses for the coming months.

College entrepreneurs should also focus on profits, Zacharakis added, rather than on less significant details such as the number of hits on their Web site – a common mistake made by dot-com-era college business owners.

“Today, I think everybody realizes with all the failures that happened during that time frame that entrepreneurship just isn’t about a good idea,” he said.

Todd Masonis and Cameron Ring, 2001 graduates of Stanford University, said they built the “classic Internet startup,” called netElement, in 1999. Although netElement never took off, the experience they got helped them successfully establish their current company, Plaxo Inc.

Associated Press

Lance Larson is CEO of OC Hosting Inc. of San Clemente, Calif., a company he worked on while pursuing an information systems degree at San Diego State University.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

A closing sign hangs above the entrance of the Big Lots at Evergreen and Madison on Monday, July 22, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Big Lots announces it will shutter Everett and Lynnwood stores

The Marysville store will remain open for now. The retailer reported declining sales in the first quarter of the year.

George Montemor poses for a photo in front of his office in Lynnwood, Washington on Tuesday, July 30, 2024.  (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Despite high mortgage rates, Snohomish County home market still competitive

Snohomish County homes priced from $550K to $850K are pulling in multiple offers and selling quickly.

Henry M. Jackson High School’s robotic team, Jack in the Bot, shake hands at the 2024 Indiana Robotics Invitational.(Henry M. Jackson High School)
Mill Creek robotics team — Jack in the Bot — wins big

Henry M. Jackson High School students took first place at the Indiana Robotic Invitational for the second year in a row.

The computer science and robotics and artificial intelligence department faculty includes (left to right) faculty department head Allison Obourn; Dean Carey Schroyer; Ishaani Priyadarshini; ROBAI department head Sirine Maalej and Charlene Lugli. PHOTO: Arutyun Sargsyan / Edmonds College.
Edmonds College to offer 2 new four-year degree programs

The college is accepting applications for bachelor programs in computer science as well as robotics and artificial intelligence.

FILE — Boeing 737 MAX8 airplanes on the assembly line at the Boeing plant in Renton, Wash., on March 27, 2019. Boeing said on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, that it was shaking up the leadership in its commercial airplanes unit after a harrowing incident last month during which a piece fell off a 737 Max 9 jet in flight. (Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)
Federal judge rejects Boeing’s guilty plea related to 737 Max crashes

The plea agreement included a fine of up to $487 million and three years of probation.

Neetha Hsu practices a command with Marley, left, and Andie Holsten practices with Oshie, right, during a puppy training class at The Everett Zoom Room in Everett, Washington on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Tricks of the trade: New Everett dog training gym is a people-pleaser

Everett Zoom Room offers training for puppies, dogs and their owners: “We don’t train dogs, we train the people who love them.”

Andy Bronson/ The Herald 

Everett mayor Ray Stephenson looks over the city on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2015 in Everett, Wa. Stephanson sees  Utah’s “housing first” model – dealing with homelessness first before tackling related issues – is one Everett and Snohomish County should adopt.

Local:issuesStephanson

Shot on: 1/5/16
Economic Alliance taps former Everett mayor as CEO

Ray Stephanson will serve as the interim leader of the Snohomish County group.

Molbak's Garden + Home in Woodinville, Washington will close on Jan. 28. (Photo courtesy of Molbak's)
After tumultuous year, Molbak’s is being demolished in Woodinville

The beloved garden store closed in January. And a fundraising initiative to revitalize the space fell short.

Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, Advanced Manufacturing Skills Center executive director Larry Cluphf, Boeing Director of manufacturing and safety Cameron Myers, Edmonds College President Amit Singh, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, and Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, July 2 celebrating the opening of a new fuselage training lab at Paine Field. Credit: Arutyun Sargsyan / Edmonds College
‘Magic happens’: Paine Field aerospace center dedicates new hands-on lab

Last month, Edmonds College officials cut the ribbon on a new training lab — a section of a 12-ton Boeing 767 tanker.

Gov. Jay Inslee presents CEO Fredrik Hellstrom with the Swedish flag during a grand opening ceremony for Sweden-based Echandia on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Marysville, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Swedish battery maker opens first U.S. facility in Marysville

Echandia’s marine battery systems power everything from tug boats to passenger and car ferries.

Helion Energy CEO and co-founder David Kirtley talks to Governor Jay Inslee about Trenta, Helion’s 6th fusion prototype, during a tour of their facility on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
State grants Everett-based Helion a fusion energy license

The permit allows Helion to use radioactive materials to operate the company’s fusion generator.

People walk past the new J.sweets storefront in Alderwood Mall on Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Japanese-style sweets shop to open in Lynnwood

J. Sweets, offering traditional Japanese and western style treats opens, could open by early August at the Alderwood mall.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.