This is the era of fast entrepreneurial start-ups, especially for computer "nerds" who often work out of their garages or homes until they hit it big. Some get a bad rap for being reclusive, poorly dressed and short on social skills.
But for one recent graduate of Brigham Young University's MBA program, "computer nerd" doesn't quite fit. He is an Internet marketing whiz kid who just closed the biggest deal of his life -- at least, so far. And while it's true that he works out of his Seattle home, he is anything but a recluse. He just likes being home with his wife and daughter.Steve Jenkins, who received his MBA in April 1996, last week deposited in his local bank a check for nearly $6 million -- just four days after he turned 28. That's the good news. Even better news: He will deposit another check for $5,750,000 in 18 months. That may be a record harvest for any BYU alumnus less than three years out of grad school.
Jenkins just sold Winfiles.com, a company he started five years ago while still a BYU student taking classes in entrepreneurship, negotiation and finance. His big breakthrough came when he snagged the Internet domain name of Windows95.com out from under the nose of Microsoft.
But there is a lot more to the story than that: It started five years ago when he purchased a special preview version of Windows 95 for $40. When he found there was little documentation for the new software, especially as it related to the Internet, he became obsessed with finding a solution for himself and others.
He stayed up into the wee hours of the morning writing instructions on how to use Windows 95 with the Internet. In a stroke of brilliance, he made those instructions available on the Internet.
As word got out about his Windows95.com Web site, he started getting thousands of hits each day, mostly from others wanting to use Windows 95 more effectively. With that as his base, he used his Web site to collect shareware (free or low-cost software that can be downloaded off the Internet).
At the time of the sale, Winfiles.com had become the source for more than 17,000 shareware programs, many at little or no cost to those who visited his site.
It sounds like a simple idea, but it was the execution that has made Jenkins a wealthy, self-made man -- although he says, "I don't like the term self-made man. I like to think of success more as a combination of luck, blessings from above and just doing it."
"Just doing it" to Jenkins means following your passion. He often counsels others to "get into a business that you love, that you have a passion for. That is what the Internet is for me."
"Doing what you love is more important than the money," he told wannabe entrepreneurs as part of the BYU Marriott School's recent entrepreneurial lecture series. "The money will follow."
That prediction certainly came true for him last week when he sold Winfiles.com to C-net, a large competitive Web site offering shareware.
As much as Steve enjoys telling the story of Windows95.com and the later version, Winfiles.com. he also likes to talk about his first business venture when he was 9 and used a computer to print labels for a local pharmacist. "I printed the labels for 15 cents apiece," he said. "If my mother wouldn't give me money for toys, I would just buy my own."
He has been entrepreneurial ever since.
So is he a "born entrepreneur"? Steve says no. "But I do believe certain tendencies to do come with us at birth," he added. "I think I was born with the propensity to make a buck."
Still, he knows what it means to struggle to make ends meet. Growing up, he was part of a family in humble circumstances. He remembers times when he and his sister would go to the back door of a local butcher to buy meat scraps for a dollar. "There were always more people trying to buy than there were scraps," he said, "so my sister would shove me to the front of the line. We always came home with the scraps."
Obviously, neither Steve nor his family will be lining up for scraps in the foreseeable future.
"I feel a responsibility to do something important with this money I have been blessed with," he says. Already he is a donor (one of a hundred who donate time, expertise and money) to the BYU Center for Entrepreneurship, which mentors students interested in starting their own businesses.
"I really enjoy talking about entrepreneurism to young people," Steve said. "It is a way of giving back to BYU."
In fact, he said, "my real dream has always to earn a Ph.D. and teach young entrepreneurs at BYU."
With his track record for making dreams come true, I wouldn't bet against him doing it -- sooner than some might think.
Stephen W. Gibson is BYU entrepreneur-in-residence. He welcomes your comments and questions at (fax) 801-373-1316, or e-mail Gibsw@aol.com.