April 9, 2001
Local Business
Platinum blonde, typhoons part of this story

It started as a way for two MBA grads to keep their old college pals up-to-date on their start-up company.

It has turned into the most interesting thing about their two-employee outfit, which sells a $29.95 novelty computer mouse shaped like the head of a driver golf club.

Today, their e-mail newsletter, known as the MouseDriver Insider, has gained a following among nearly 400 entrepreneurs, business school students, teachers and anybody else who wants the inside story of the roller-coaster ride of starting a business.

"It's like a soap opera, or some reality show," said Pankaj Kumar, an assistant professor of marketing at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He is one of several business school profs who has recommended students read the Insider, and he has invited the company founders, Kyle Harrison and John Lusk, to speak to his class.

Their story started in May 1999, when the two native Texans graduated from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with master's degrees in business administration.

While their fellow MBA grads were taking jobs with six-figure salaries at consulting firms and banks, they decided to launch Platinum Concepts Inc., a company that markets a computer mouse they call the MouseDriver.

Harrison, who turns 32 this week, came up with the idea as he scribbled on the back of a coaster while attending a business conference. He patented the design and, with the encouragement of a professor at Wharton, he and Lusk decided to move to San Francisco to start the company from their apartment.

Living vicariously

Shortly afterwards, Lusk, 30, began writing e-mails to a group of friends who wanted to keep abreast of their travails. "We're living the entrepreneurial experience vicariously through you," they told him.

What is usual about the Insider is it is filled with the sort of details that entrepreneurs often don't like to publicize. At a time when entrepreneurs puff themselves up and boast about every little success, these guys write as much of their failures, fears and disappointments.

They've written about how they temporarily worked from offices that once housed a massage parlor, their struggle to find a distributor and their fear of racking up credit-card debt to finance inventory.

The periodic reports -- each of which include a "Mood Meter" that sums up their feelings ("tempered excitement," "an emotional roller coaster") -- are at times philosophical, sometimes wacky and often humorous.

Here are excerpts:

About missing messages during the crucial holiday season because their e-mail service went down: "We were pretty embarrassed and bummed about the whole thing ... especially by the customers that totally ripped on us for not initially responding (i.e. some guy basically told us that are product was a sham, our company was a joke and we didn't have the balls to respond to his email ... it's that whole ego crushing thing repeating itself)."

"Most of the buyers at department stores are extremely arrogant. One buyer even hung up on John when she realized that Platinum Concepts was not a brand name manufacturer. Just another thing that crushes your ego."

"John is thinking of dying his hair Platinum Blonde!" Lusk wrote last summer. He said this could have a side benefit of bringing awareness to Platinum Concepts. "However, we know that if he actually does make a visit to the salon down the street, it will be a direct result of working out of our apartment kitchen for 13 MONTHS (seriously!) ... it's absolutely amazing the things you'll do to 'change your environment' when your creativity and motivation are stifled in such a lackluster setting."

"We've been screwed by the downturn in the economy!!" Lusk wrote last week after they were forced to move back to their apartment only hours after they had subleased office because the company they leased from failed. The same day, they lost their Internet connection when digital subscriber line provider NorthPoint Communications shut down.

"Now, we're back in the apartment with no high-speed Internet connection, all of our office stuff is sitting in the garage, and we're dreading the idea of doing this apartment work/live thing all over again."

No guts, no glory

Subscribers said they love their candor.

"It's kind of scary to be so honest," said Robyn Statman, owner of Rubb Inc., a San Diego firm that makes spa products. "That takes a lot guts. And I admire them for that."

Statman said her favorite installment was when the company's first shipment was delayed from its Hong Kong manufacturer because of a typhoon, followed by an earthquake in Taipei, which halted the production of integrated circuits used in the mice.

Ed McClung, a Dallas investor who has contributed $15,000 to the company, said he initially was concerned about how potential partners and buyers might react to the Insider. But he has since changed his mind.

"Why pretend? Why try to act like you're not scared, on the days when everyone knows you should be? Why not highlight that you're doing a lot with a little?" McClung wrote in an e-mail.

Love to read, but ...

Michael Hess, founder of one-year-old RoadWired LLC, said he loves the stories because they so closely resemble those of his company, a Rochester, N.Y., outfit that makes carrying cases for electronics products.

"They are very honest about it -- 'This sucks, we don't have enough money,' " Hess said. "I don't think I've seen anybody do that. I wouldn't do it. But I don't mind reading about them."

Brett Hurt, an ex-classmate of the founders and a loyal newsletter reader, agreed.

"A lot of investors would be upset if I gave everyone an open view," said Hurt, who is founder and chief executive of San Francisco-based Coremetrics, a Web-service company that has attracted $62 million in venture capital.

If they become wildly successful, there may come a time they can't continue the newsletter, Hurt speculated. In the meantime, "it's fun."

Stay tuned

Lusk said they have been flooded with responses from entrepreneurs, especially after they recently appeared in Inc. magazine. They have gotten contacts, advice and assistance from subscribers. A book publisher is offering a contract.

Recently, they added an entrepreneurial discussion list to their Website. Entrepreneurs share their ideas to questions posted, such as how to get shelf space from a retailer, and low-cost ways of setting up a Website.

MouseDriver now is sold in 750 stores nationwide, and the company is forecasting sales of $1 million this year, up from $600,000 last year.

You'll have to stay tuned to find out whether the company ultimately succeeds. The fun part is Lusk and Harrison don't know the ending to their story either.

That's apparent from their last newsletter, which included this "Mood Meter": "Psyched that people are noticing us, bummed that sales aren't higher, grateful for this incredible learning experience and scared shitless with regards to our latest credit card issues."