Yeah, yeah--we know Business Start-Ups is all a novice entrepreneur really needs. But if you have to get a different perspective, there's a cornucopia of informative sites specifically geared toward answering your start-up questions. Unfortunately, Alex Carter, 24, founder of X Startup.Com (http://www.xstartup.com) in Ames, Iowa, didn't encounter one that told the stories of entrepreneurs his age--so he created his own.
"I originally got the idea for the site last February," says Carter. "I went to a bookstore, was thumbing through magazines, and picked up Business Start-Ups for the first time. On the cover was a story on Generation X entrepreneurs."
Already eight months into his own Internet consulting venture, Carter was surprised to learn that droves of young people were infiltrating small business, and he felt a strong desire to find out exactly what they were up to. After a fruitless attempt sifting through several bland business sites, he hit the Idea Cafe (http://www.ideacafe.com) bulletin board looking for resources. He didn't find any to his liking, but he did find Jeff Frutkin, 24, who helped him outline the initial idea for X Startup.Com but dropped out of the development process to start his own network of sports Web sites.
With only $300 to cover software and hosting, and mass amounts of input gathered from entrepreneurial bulletin-board pals, Carter brought X Startup.Com live to advice-seekers worldwide last June. (He's not the only one who thought it was a good idea; Idea Café acquired X Startup.Com last September.) Whether you're seeking straightforward start-up articles, profiles of young entrepreneurs, a venue for networking, a good idea or you just want to post your URL so others can learn about your business, it's all yours for the taking.
This story appears in the February 2000 issue of Startups. Subscribe »
