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August 2004 New VenturesWhen the kids are ready for kindergarten, parents face a labyrinth of possibilities-public school or private; charter, magnet, or home school. And that's just the beginning. To the rescue comes Ozzie Ayscue, MBA '88, who recently founded ARMCHAIR PRESS, a publishing company specializing in parenting/education books. Armchair's first title, released in May, is Picky Parent Guide: Choose Your Child's School with Confidence, the Elementary Years (K-6). Picky parents will find additional insights and support at the web site www.pickyparent.com. Then comes college. Susan Rothstein and Diane Brandt, both MBA '78, saw their firstborns enter college woefully unprepared for real-world problems like paying bills, managing credit cards, and taking charge of their own health care. The two mothers of invention came up with the CollegeCase, a sturdy organizer built to last through four years of college that includes storage space for bills, receipts, and other paperwork, a "mailbox" to trap unsorted papers, and tips on banking, health, property, insurance, and more. Rothstein and Brandt's company, CAPTIO, has more life-transition products in the pipeline. See www.captio.com. What does a new venture need as it grows? A payroll specialist, for one. Longtime technology entrepreneur David Kahn, MBA '79, is founder and CEO of PERQUEST, which offers small and medium-sized companies round-the-clock, online access to payroll services. Kahn has more than 10 years' experience in the payroll industry and previously designed and implemented both a human resources information system and a benefits administration program. After two years' beta testing, Perquest was launched last November and now has clients throughout the country. For news junkies whose interests aren't quite the same as those of the masses, Greg Linden, Sloan '03, has launched Findory.com, a website with technology that presents a user with suggestions for articles selected by what has been viewed by other people who have displayed similar interests. A software engineer, Linden worked for Amazon.com on personalization of its site before leaving to attend the Sloan Program. He has since applied for patents on the algorithm behind his news search and a broader Web search that he ultimately hopes to launch, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "The idea is that you come to Findory and you just read news like you normally would, and the site just gets better and better. It keeps showing you more interesting and relevant news," Linden said. For privacy, use of the site is anonymous. |
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