Hook, Line and Sinker How three entrepreneurs snagged their first clients.

I was between companies, and I started collecting pinball machines. I had a warehouse with 15 of them, and I was taking delivery of another machine when a couple of guys walked by. One of the guys pleaded with me to let him take a look. On his way out, he offered me $5,000 for a Twilight Zone [machine], which was double what I had paid for it. He called the next day, brought his friend and bought three pinball machines for $15,000. That's how we started the business."

--David Young, 45, founder of five-year-old BMI Gaming Inc., a Boca Raton, Florida, arcade and game distributor with annual sales of $8 million