Finding A Business Partner

Finding a good business partner may be a little tricky, but according to Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal, it is one of the most important decisions you can make.

Max Levchin earned a bachelors degree in Computer Science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where the first first Internet graphical browser, Mosaic was developed. This browser led to the boom of the 1990s and made the Web accessible to the ordinary person for the first time. Firefox 3, developed from this basic browser, had more than 8 million unique downloads the day it was released, setting a Guinness World Record.

After being influenced and taught at the same institution where Mosaic was created, Max decided to head for the Silicon Valley. Not intentionally looking for a business partner, Max randomly walked into a classroom on the Stanford University campus, trying to get out of the heat and searching for an air-conditioned place to sit.

He sat in on a lecture given by Peter Thiel. Peter Thiel’s expertise in business and entrepreneurship inspired Max to chat with him after class. The next day they met for breakfast and he shared with him several ideas he had for business projects. This meeting was the beginning of an extremely profitable business partnership.

They ended up creating a company called PayPal, an online payment processing company which allows people to send money to each other in a completely new and different way than they had ever been able to before. PayPal sold to eBay on July 8, 2002 for $1.5 billion dollars. Max’s share was worth $34 million and Peter Thiel’s share was worth $55 million.

One of the qualities of a good partnership is that the partner can tell you when your ideas are good and also when they are just way off base. The success of the partnership depends on you choosing the right person.

Some partnerships last a lifetime and end up being good for both parties, while others may last half a life time and end up with one or the other sending their partner down the river. Choose your business partner as wisely as you would choose a marriage partner.

Who Is Max Levchin?

There are many people who can be considered pioneers in the development of web technology and most seem to be millionaires or billionaires. Max Levchin is no exception. Who is he?

He is a thirty-five year old, computer scientist and entrepreneur. He was born in the Ukraine, and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1991 under a political asylum. He earned his bachelors degree in computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Accomplishments

In 1997 he co-founded two companies NetMeridian Software and SponsorNet New Media.

In 1998, he co-founded FieldLink with Peter Thiel and John Bernard Powers. Powers left the company and the company name, FieldLink, was soon changed to Confinity. The two partners, Levchin and Thiel then developed  the popular payment product known as PayPal. After merging with a company called X.com, the official name of their company was changed to Paypal Inc. Levchin was well known for developing the anti-fraud component of PayPal called CAPTCHA a process that will differentiate computer input from input by human beings.

PayPal went public in 2002, and shortly afterwards, eBay purchased PayPal for $1.5 billion dollars.  When PayPal was acquired by eBay, Levchin’s interest in the company was worth $34 million dollars.

Levchin did not remain idle after this aquisition. In 2004, he went on to create yet another company called Slide. He invested $7 million dollars of his own money in this company. Funding was also acquired from various venture capitalists. The company was first developed to allow users to organize photos on their computers and post them to personal blogs. Later it became known for creating applications that became very popular on Facebook. Some of the applications were “Top Friends”, FunWall”, “My Questions, “Fortune Cookie”, and “Super Poke”. By 2008, Super Poke Pet was launched were you can care for and buy things for a virtual pet.

On August 6, 2010, Google purchased Slide.com for $182 million dollars. Levchin received $39 million dollars for that sale. Shortly after that, on August 25, Google offered him a job as the Vice President of Engineering.

Advice To Entrepreneurs

Max Levchin’s best words of advice to other technology entrepreneurs is to try your best to find a good co-partner. Having the checks and balances from another person that you have respect and trust for and the ability of that person to tell you when you are way off base at exactly the right time is extremely valuable, if not the most valuable thing.

Future Plans

It will be exciting to follow his next accomplishments as a new Vice President of Engineering at Google.

Entrepreneur Receives Praises From Bill Gates

At a recent gathering held in Aspen, Colorado called the Aspen Ideas Festival, where leaders from around the world gather to discuss ideas and issues of global concern, Bill Gates spent time speaking  about a remarkable man, Sal Khan. Sal Khan, a recent hedge fund manager, has taken his business to a new level. He is now helping to educate the masses. “This guy is amazing, said Gates. “I’d say we’ve moved about 160 IQ points from the hedge fund category to the teaching-many-people-in-a-leveraged-way category. It was a good day his wife let him quit his job.”

Sal Khan was probably not surprised by the recent public attention. In 2009, his site and “academy” was awarded the Microsoft Tech Award for education.

Sal Khan has created over 1800 learning videos on subjects like  calculus, chemistry, economics, finance, geometry, linear algebra, physics, venture capital, statistics and trigonometry.

Sal has an exceptional ability to take complicated concepts and teach people in ways that are easy to understand. He narrates the videos and uses a big black background to draw on as he speaks. Mr. Gates has used the videos to help his own children learn biology and algebra.

It is interesting to know a little about Sal and his background. Sal Khan was born in Louisiana. His father was from Bangladesh and his mother from Calcutta, India. He received a perfect score on the math portion of the SAT. He has three bachelor degrees, one in mathematics, one in computer science and one in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also holds an MBA from Harvard. In 2009, Khan Academy, and received the Microsoft Tech Award for education.

Sal Khan has made a huge contribution to the world by providing an education to anyone who may be wanting to learn. From all corners of the world, people can benefit from his videos.

Entrepreneur Resource Center In Utah

There are some hidden treasures for business entrepreneurs in Kaysville, Utah. Entrepreneurs have access to a beautiful 16,000-square-foot building and a team of supportive staff to help them with their businesses.

Entrepreneurs are sometimes a disconnected group of people. Entrepreneurs need somewhere to go for support, networking and help without overspending. The Roy W. & Elizabeth E. Simmons Entrepreneurial Center center solves that problem.

The idea for creating this type of center came from the business teachers at the Davis Applied Technology College. They thought that it only made sense to build the center and have the staff supported by the proceeds of renting the building out to various companies and small entrepreneurs who need a small office arrangement without huge overhead fees.

Thanks to a generous donation from the Roy and Elizabeth Simmons, the $2 million dollar building itself is completely paid off and runs using that very business model.

History of Roy and Elizabeth Simmons

One may wonder how these people were able to offer such a generous contribution, so a little background history on this family is helpful. Roy Simmons began a career in banking in 1938. He worked for his father-in-law, L.E. Ellison, at the First National Bank of Layton, Utah. His career in banking skyrocketed and by 1952 he had organized the Bank of Utah. By 1955, he and his partners gained controlling interest in Zion’s First National Bank. Roy was named President and CEO of Zion’s and served until 1990.

This family was able to make significant contributions to the welfare of their community. They created The Simmons Family Foundation which contributed almost $3.5 million to the community. One of their contributions was the Roy W. and Elizabeth E. Simmons Trauma and Emergency Services Center at Intermountain Medical Center. It  is a state of the art facility and one of the  largest and best-equipped trauma centers in the area.

Services Provided By The Center

One of the services that they provide is a private consultation for you about any aspect of your business you need help with. They have gone through training to counsel with you and have experience running their own businesses.

This is where the Davis County Chamber of Commerce has their headquarters.

The center provides office space for people to rent and rooms to use for making presentations. There is a beautiful meeting room that has a view of the valley below. It is large enough to hold a hundred people.

The meeting rooms can hold up to 30 people and people are using it all the time. Be sure to find  their schedule of presentations. You may want to attend a meeting.

The administrative staff helps you get oriented to their building and services. They are completely supported by the revenues of the building and are very happy to be there.

For any entrepreneurs in the Utah area, be sure to take time visiting this incredible resource.

Treasure Hunting Pays Off For Amateur Metal Detector

Dave Crisp, an amateur metal detector from Britain uncovered 52,500 Roman coins, in Frome, Somerset England. This was one of the largest Roman coin hoards ever  found in England. The coins, now in the British Museum, date back to the time of Emperor  Carausius, who died in 293 AD.

In April of 2010, Dave Crisp was allowed to use his metal detector to search for metal on a neighbors land.  He started to hear some odd noises from his metal detector and began digging in that area.  As he dug down about a foot, he started to find small coins about the size of a dime.

“I put my hand in, pulled out a bit of clay and there was a little Radial, a little bronze Roman coin. Very, very small, about the size of my fingernail,” said Dave Crisp.  “I’ve been detecting for twenty two years and I’ve never had a hoard before this weekend.” A hoard is two or more coins that are over 300 years old at the time of their discovery.

When he continued digging he could see some sort of pot and more coins. At this point that he made a critical decision to stop digging and notify professional excavators.  He called archaeologists from the Somerset County Council to come out and take a look.  Historians will be able to learn more because these coins were excavated by archaeologists. They were able to photograph and document the process of excavating these coins.  When excavating was completed, they found approximately 350 pounds of Roman coins in a large clay pot.

So who owns the find? The land owner or Dave Crisp or England?

Generally, the landowner and the finder come to some sort of agreement as to what they will do with anything that is found before any metal detecting begins. The country’s laws need to be considered as well. England’s Treasure Act of 1996, states that anything found in the earth that is considered an artifact belongs  to both the land owner and the finder.  They must, however, offer the find for sale to the British Museum at a price determined by the Treasure Valuation Committee.  The value of this particular find has been estimated at around $5 million. The proceeds will be shared by the land owner and Dave Crisp.

Worldwide interest in the historical find has inspired the creation of a documentary. The BBC TV is creating a movie called, “Digging for Britain,” which will be released in August of 2010.

Before you go out and buy yourself a metal detector, be sure to study the laws regulating your finds. There are Federal and State laws that help protect and preserve artifacts. You don’t want to find yourself in jail because you found something and inadvertently broke the law.

Unemployment Tips, Filing For Unemployment

National statistics indicate that the unemployment rate nationwide has gotten close to 9.9%. That is approximately 15.3 million people that are unemployed. This figure is up .2% from January, February and March of 2010. Chances are that you or someone close to you is suffering from unemployment. You may need some help learning what you need to do while you are looking for your next job.

Unemployment Eligibility

To start with you will need to determine if you are eligible for unemployment. Since each state has different requirements check with your state office. Sometimes you can file a claim online or over the phone. It’s not difficult to do.

Top 20 Job Searching Sites

Jobs are listed online and can be accessed through many sites. Some of these sites have been recommended by PC Magazine and other reliable sources. Spend some time seeing which site is going to help you the most.

1. Monster.com – Search jobs, post resumes, read advice
2. Job.com – Listings by top jobs in your area, estimate salaries, take a job match test
3. Lost rankings
4. Net Temps – access to over 5000 professional recruiters
5. Indeed – 905,823 new jobs in the last week
6. CareerBuilder – Has 23 million visits a month
7. All Job Search – Links to other sites to search
8. Simply Hired – Uses Google search which provides relevant results
9. USA.gov – The Federal Government Site
10. College Recruiter – Not Only for Students
11. Craigslist
12. Hound.com
13. Execu-search.com
14. Jobster.com
15. Oodle.com
16. MediaBistro.com
17. TweetMyJobs.com
18. Job-Hunt.org – Lists job resources by state.
19. Fortune 500 Companies
20. SnagaJob.com

Career Planning Resources

If you are in the beginning phases of preparing yourself for a career then you may want to check out the best fields of study. You can ask around locally or you can check your newspaper, but the best way to find out what careers are flourishing, you need to search online. College majors that have good employment possibilities were reported by the collegiate employment research institute at Michigan State University. The majors included E-commerce, entrepreneurialism, environmental sciences, information science, information systems (management and computer), interactive computer design, statistics, nursing, and social work. If you have been pursuing one of those degrees you are on the right track.

The United States Department of Labor has compiled the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition source of career information, designed to provide valuable assistance to individuals making decisions about their future work lives. The Occupational Outlook Handbook can be ordered online.

State Resources For the Unemployed

Each of the sites listed below will provide detailed information on occupations and labor markets within their states. Many of these sites can help you find companies that are hiring.

For example, if you use the Utah site link, you’ll find a resource center provides a lot of interesting information for people seeking jobs in Utah. This site reports that in March, 2010, unemployment in Utah hit an all time high that has not been seen in Utah for twenty six years.

On the brighter side, the site will give you interesting possibilities of places to look for work. Oracle Corporation, a business-software giant is building a $300 million data center in West Jordan, Utah. According to the City of West Jordan, the building may be completed as early as October 1. They anticipate hiring 100 people. The State of Utah provided the company with a $15 million dollar incentive to build in Utah.

Do some research for the resources available to you in your state.

Let us know what successes or failures you’ve had with them by leaving a comment here.

Alabama

Labor Market Information Division, Alabama Department of Industrial Relations, 649 Monroe St., Room 422, Montgomery, AL 36131Telephone:

(334) 242-8859 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (334) 242-8859 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

http://dir.alabama.gov

Alaska

Research and Analysis Section, Department of Labor and Workforce Development, P.O. Box 25501, Juneau, AK 99802-5501.

Telephone: (907) 465-4500.

Internet: http://almis.labor.state.ak.us

Arizona

Arizona Department of Economic Security
P.O. Box 6123 SC 733A
Phoenix, AZ 85005-6123

Telephone: (602) 542-5984

Internet: https://www.azdes.gov

Arkansas

Labor Market Information, Department of Workforce Services, #2 Capital Mall, Little Rock, AR 72201.

Telephone: (501) 682-3198.

Internet: http://www.discoverarkansas.net

California

State of California Employment Development Department, Labor Market Information Division, P.O. Box 826880, Sacramento, CA 94280-0001.

Telephone: (916) 262-2162.

Internet:http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov

Colorado

Labor Market Information, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, 633 17th St., Suite 600, Denver, CO 80202-3660.

Telephone: (303) 318-8850.

Internet: http://lmigateway.coworkforce.com

Connecticut

Office of Research, Connecticut Department of Labor, 200 Folly Brook Blvd., Wethersfield, CT 06109-1114.

Telephone: (860) 263-6275.

Internet: http://www.ctdol.state.ct.us/lmi

Delaware

Office of Occupational and Labor Market Information, Department of Labor, 19 West Lea Blvd., Wilmington, DE 19802.

Telephone: (302) 761-8069.

Internet: http://www.delawareworks.com/oolmi/

District of Columbia

DC Department of Employment Services, 64 New York Ave. NE., Suite 3000, Washington, D.C. 20002.

Telephone: (202) 724-7000.

Internet: http://www.does.dc.gov/does

Florida

Labor Market Statistics, Agency for Workforce Innovation, 107 E. Madison St., MSC 110 – Caldwell Building, Tallahassee, FL 32399-4111.

Telephone: (850) 245-7105.

Internet: http://www.labormarketinfo.com

Georgia

Workforce Information and Analysis, Room 300, Department of Labor, 223 Courtland St., CWC Building, Atlanta, GA 30303.

Telephone: (404) 232-3875.

Internet: http://www.dol.state.ga.us/em/get_labor_market_information.htm

Guam

Guam Department of Labor, 504 D St., Tiyan, Guam 96910.

Telephone: (671) 475-0101.

Hawaii

Research and Statistics Office, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, 830 Punchbowl St., Room 304, Honolulu, HI 96813.

Telephone: (808) 586-9013.

Internet: http://www.hiwi.org

Idaho

Research and Analysis Bureau, Department of Commerce and Labor, 317 West Main St., Boise, ID 83735-0670.

Telephone: (208) 332-3570.

Internet: http://lmi.idaho.gov

Illinois

Illinois Department of Employment Security, Economic Information and Analysis Division, 33 S. State St., 9th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603.

Telephone: (312) 793-6521.

Internet: http://lmi.ides.state.il.us

Indiana

Research and Analysis—Indiana Workforce Development, Indiana Government Center South, 10 North Senate Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46204.

Telephone: (800) 891-6499.

Internet: http://www.in.gov/dwd

Iowa

Policy and Information Division, Iowa Workforce Development, 1000 East Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50319-0209.

Telephone: (515) 281-5387.

Internet: http://www.iowaworkforce.org/lmi

Kansas

Kansas Department of Labor, Labor Market Information Services, 401 SW Topeka Blvd., Topeka, KS 66603-3182.

Telephone: (785) 296-5000.

Kentucky

Research and Statistics Branch, Office of Employment and Training, 275 East Main St., Frankfort, KY 40621.

Telephone: (502) 564-7976.

Internet: http://www.workforcekentucky.ky.gov

Louisiana

Research and Statistics Division, Department of Labor, 1001 North 23rd St., Baton Rouge, LA 70802-3338.

Telephone: (225) 342-3111.

Internet: http://www.laworks.net

Maine

Labor Market Information Services Division, Maine Department of Labor, 45 Commerce Dr., State House Station 118, Augusta, ME 04330.

Telephone: (207) 623-7900.

Internet: http://maine.gov/labor/lmis

Maryland

Maryland Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation, Office of Labor Market Analysis and Information, 1100 N. Eutaw, Baltimore, MD 21201.

Telephone: (410) 767-2250.

Internet: http://www.dllr.state.md.us/lmi/index.shtml

Massachusetts

Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Career Services, 19 Staniford St., Boston, MA 02114.

Telephone: (617) 626-5300.

Internet: http://www.detma.org/LMIdataprog.htm

Michigan

Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, Department of Labor and Economic Growth, 3032 West Grand Blvd., Suite 9-100, Detroit, MI 48202.

Telephone: (313) 456-3100.

Internet: http://www.milmi.org

Minnesota

Department of Employment and Economic Development, Labor Market Information Office, 1st National Bank Building, 332 Minnesota St., Suite E200, St. Paul, MN 55101-1351.

Telephone: (888) 234-1114.

Internet: http://www.deed.state.mn.us/lmi

Mississippi

Labor Market Information Division, Mississippi Department of Employment Security, 1235 Echelon Pkwy., P.O. Box 1699, Jackson, MS 39215.

Telephone: (601) 321-6000.

Internet: http://mdes.ms.gov

Missouri

Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, P.O. Box 3150, Jefferson City, MO 65102-3150.

Telephone: (866) 225-8113.

Internet: http://www.missourieconomy.org

Montana

Research and Analysis Bureau, P.O. Box 1728, Helena, MT 59624.

Telephone: (800) 541-3904.

Internet: http://www.ourfactsyourfuture.org

Nebraska

Nebraska Workforce Development—Labor Market Information, Nebraska Department of Labor, 550 South 16th St., P.O. Box 94600, Lincoln, NE 68509.

Telephone: (402) 471-2600.

Internet: http://www.dol.nebraska.gov/nwd/center.cfm?PRICAT=3&SUBCAT=4Z0

Nevada

Research and Analysis, Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation, 500 East Third St., Carson City, NV 89713.

Telephone: (775) 684-0450.

Internet: http://www.nevadaworkforce.com

New Hampshire

Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau, New Hampshire Employment Security, 32 South Main St., Concord, NH 03301-4857.

Telephone: (603) 228-4124.

Internet: http://www.nh.gov/nhes/elmi

New Jersey

Division of Labor Market and Demographic Research, Department of Labor and Workforce Development, P.O. Box 388, Trenton, NJ 08625-0388.

Telephone: (609) 984-2593.

Internet: http://www.wnjpin.net

New Mexico

New Mexico Department of Labor , Economic Research and Analysis, 401 Broadway NE., Albuquerque, NM 87102.

Telephone: (505) 222-4683.

Internet: http://www.dws.state.nm.us/dws-lmi.html

New York

Research and Statistics, New York State Department of Labor, W. Averell Harriman State Office Campus, Building 12, Albany, NY 12240.

Telephone: (518) 457-9000.

Internet: http://www.labor.state.ny.us

North Carolina

Labor Market Information Division, Employment Security Commission, 700 Wade Ave., Raleigh, NC 27605.

Telephone: (919) 733-2936.

Internet: http://www.ncesc.com

North Dakota

Labor Market Information Manager, Job Service North Dakota, 1000 East Divide Ave., Bismarck, ND 58506.

Telephone: (800) 732-9787.

Internet: http://www.ndworkforceintelligence.com

Ohio

Bureau of Labor Market Information, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, 420 East 5th Ave., Columbus, OH 43219.

Telephone: (614) 752-9494.

Internet: http://ohiolmi.com

Oklahoma

Labor Market Information, Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, P.O. Box 52003., Oklahoma City, OK 73152.

Telephone: (405) 557-7172.

Internet: http://www.ok.gov/oesc_web/Services/Find_Labor_Market_Statistics/index.html

Oregon

Oregon Employment Department, Research Division, 875 Union St. NE., Salem, OR 97311.

Telephone: (503) 947-1200.

Internet: http://www.qualityinfo.org/olmisj/OlmisZine

Pennsylvania

Center for Workforce Information & Analysis, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, 220 Labor and Industry Building, Seventh and Forster Sts., Harrisburg, PA 17121.

Telephone: (877) 493-3282.

Internet: http://www.paworkstats.state.pa.us

Puerto Rico

Department of Work and Human Resources, Ave. Muñoz Rivera 505, Hato Rey, PR 00918.

Telephone: (787) 754-5353.

Internet: http://www.dtrh.gobierno.pr

Rhode Island

Labor Market Information, Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, 1511 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, RI 02920.

Telephone: (401) 462-8740.

Internet: http://www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi

South Carolina

Labor Market Information Department, South Carolina Employment Security Commission, 631 Hampton St., Columbia, SC 29202.

Telephone: (803) 737-2660.

Internet: http://www.sces.org/lmi/index.asp

South Dakota

Labor Market Information Center, Department of Labor, P.O. Box 4730, Aberdeen, SD 57402-4730.

Telephone: (605) 626-2314.

Internet: http://dol.sd.gov/lmic

Tennessee

Research and Statistics Division, Department of Labor and Workforce Development, 220 French Landing Dr., Nashville, TN 37245.

Telephone: (615) 741-1729.

Internet: http://www.state.tn.us/labor-wfd/lmi.htm

Texas

Labor Market Information, Texas Workforce Commission, 9001 North IH-35, Suite 103A, Austin, TX 75753.

Telephone: (866) 938-4444.

Internet: http://www.tracer2.com

Utah

Director of Workforce Information, Utah Department of Workforce Services, P.O. Box 45249, Salt Lake City, UT 84145-0249.

Telephone: (801) 526-9675.

Internet: http://jobs.utah.gov/opencms/wi

Vermont

Economic and Labor Market Information, Vermont Department of Labor, P.O. Box 488, Montpelier, VT 05601-0488.

Telephone: (802) 828-4000.

Internet: http://www.vtlmi.info

Virgin Islands

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, 53A & 54AB Kronprindsens Gade, St Thomas, VI 00803-2608.

Telephone: (340) 776-3700.

Internet: http://www.vidol.gov

Virginia

Virginia Employment Commission, P.O. Box 1358, Richmond, VA 23218-1358.

Telephone: (800) 828-1140.

Washington

Labor Market and Economic Analysis, Washington Employment Security Department, P.O. Box 9046, Olympia, WA 98507-9046.

Telephone: (360) 438-4833.

Internet: http://www.workforceexplorer.com

West Virginia

Workforce West Virginia, Research, Information and Analysis Division, 112 California Ave., Charleston, WV 25303-0112.

Telephone: (304) 558-2660.

Internet: http://workforcewv.org/lmi

Wisconsin

Bureau of Workforce Information, Department of Workforce Development, P.O. Box 7944, Madison, WI 53707-7944.

Telephone: (608) 266-7034.

Internet: http://worknet.wisconsin.gov/worknet

Wyoming

Research and Planning, Wyoming Department of Employment, 246 S. Center St., Casper, WY 82602.

Telephone: (307) 473-3807.

Internet: http://doe.state.wy.us/lmi

Free Personal Finance Tools Create Smart Data

Gathering data and making meaningful use of it has made 30 year-old Aaron Patzer, a rich man. Aaron Patzer is the founder of the website, Mint.com which is a free personal finance site that has over 1.5 million users. It allows people to track bank transactions, credit card transactions, investments, and loan transactions online.

The site helps you find better prices on things you buy, guides you to the best credit card rewards and minimizes finance charges. It has helped people find $300 million in savings, managed $50 billion in assets and helped track $200 billion in purchases.

Security for this type of financial analysis is of utmost importance to  Mint.com. They have bank level security. They also have a “read-only” connection to financial institutions so no money can be moved and no one can drain your accounts. They have low-balance and spending alerts to help you manage your accounts and prevent identity theft or fraud.

What inspired him to create this type of site?

He found that he was spending most of his time working and had little time to track his own finances. Frustrated with how Quicken, Intuit’s financial software, worked, he decided to create his own program. He designed a way to make tracking his finances easier, quicker, and more automated. He created a business model that allowed people free use of the money management tools. From the data aggregated, they could offer suggestions on ways to save money, lower interest rates on credit cards and make better financial decisions

How did he fund the website?

Aaron had to raise venture capital money to fund the project and it was not always easy. He experienced highs and lows. Sometimes he thought his idea was the greatest thing since sliced bread and other times he questioned himself with his attempt at tackling such a big project and competing with Intuit, a $10B company. For comfort in the low phases, he often thought of a quote “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we might oft win, by fearing to attempt.” Shakespeare

How does the software work?

Aaron Patzer received a license from the company, Yodlee, to use the technology that powers 85% to 90% of all the online consumer finance sites. The communication between you and your bank uses this technology.

Then, he did what he is good at. He began to work on algorithms that would take the financial data and make it useful. One algorithm was patented and contains 105 steps to have transactions labeled with appropriate categories. Other algorithms helped to make recommendations on ways that the user could save money. He now holds 11 patents on algorithms.

How did the site become so popular and successful?

When the site was first launched it won awards from The Motley Fool for the best money management tool. TechCrunch40 awarded them the hottest start up company of the year and they really began to take off. Over the next few years they received 47 awards from well know companies like, CNNmoney.com, Time.com, PC magazine, Kiplinger, the World Economic Fund, LifeHacker.com and Business Week.

What does Intuit think of Mint.com?

Intuit’s executives watched Mint.com for over a year. They became so impressed with the features of the site that the CEO of Intuit, Brad Smith approached Aaron and offered to buy the company. On November 2, 2009, Intuit purchased Mint.com for $140 million, offering Aaron the chance to be in charge of Mint.com and all Quicken online, desktop and mobile offerings, which he agreed to do.

Aaron Patzer, earned his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, and computer science, and electrical engineering, at Duke University as well as a master’s degree in electrical engineering and algorithms from Princeton University. Some of his first work after graduation was working on a cell microprocessor, used in the PlayStation 3 and it uses three of his patents.

What is Aaron Patzer’s advice to entrepreneurs?

His best advice to other entrepreneurs is to “observe the world around you – everything you do, and especially everything you hate to do – solve a real problem and the world is yours.”

The Value of Scarcity and Uniqueness in Business

Auctions can bring hefty prices for unique, rare items. Recently, a manual typewriter fetched the amount of $254,000.

Why the astronomical price? You may wonder about this because living in the digital age, who needs a typewriter?

Possibly similar to the sale of one of Michael Jackson’s glove, this memorabilia belonged to Cormac McCarthy, American fiction writer. From this humble looking typewriter, McCarthy typed more than 5 million words over a period of 50 years.

Cormac McCarthy, born in 1933, is an American novelist and playwright sometimes compared to Faulkner. Six of his novels were made into films. Well known for his 2007, Pulitzer prize winning, work of fiction called, “The Road.”

In 2008, McCarthy was awarded the Pen/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction. His work was recognized for qualities of excellence, ambition and scale of achievement during his writing career. This places him in the highest ranks of American literature.

People predicted his typewriter may go for $18K or so. Those predictions were far below the price it received. The large sum of money was donated to a scientific research organization, the Santa Fe Institute.

The qualities of uniqueness combined with scarcity can drive up the value of an item exponentially. With many competing businesses in similar niches popping up all over the web, thousands will collapse and a few will prosper. It seems to be a natural cycle of business.

If you want your Internet business to prosper, ask yourself if you have something to offer people that is both unique and scarce. The more you can meet this criteria, the better your business will do. What can you bring to the table that is different from every other company? Opportunities to create new, unique products are endless.

The entrepreneur in us sees opportunities everywhere we look, but many people see only problems everywhere they look. The entrepreneur in us is more concerned with discriminating between opportunities than he or she is with failing to see the opportunities. ~Michael Gerber

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