You Can Count on Me A friend can make the best kind of business partner.

What happens when two friends decide to start a business? It's a question that Lynn Harris Medcalf and Susan Apgood gave some serious thought when a client suggested the co-workers at a PR company made a great team. They shared the same vision for a company and brought different skills to the table, so, in August 1997, the friends decided to launch News Generation, an Atlanta-based PR services company that specializes in radio. Last year, Medcalf, 37, executive vice president, and Apgood, 35, president, made $1.3 million in revenue.

"Susan is one of the funniest people I've ever met. She always makes people laugh, and I truly enjoy being around her," says Medcalf. "I respected Susan's work ethic and thought she was a dynamo who would go far in life."

Sarah Eck and Brook Jay, both 34, were also co-workers at an event planning company before becoming co-presidents of All Terrain Productions, a $1.5 million events-marketing firm in Chicago, in September 1998. Jay, a self-proclaimed "single party girl," says she and Eck, who's married with two children, "contrast and complement each other well." Jay admits it took time for them to recognize and appreciate each other's strengths as well as their weaknesses.