Letters

Readers respond to topics and articles from past issues of Inc. magazine.

What can you say about a group that is in touch with its anxiety and uses a comic-strip character as a moral compass? Who knows? But never let it be said that Inc. readers are not a vociferously opinionated group. For their comments, read on.

Don't Worry? Be Happy?

We hit a nerve when we asked, "How economically anxious are you?" in the "Focus" box in our July Letters column. Some readers were positively giddy:

How anxious am I? Not very! There must be a gazillion ways to make money. Since necessity is the mother of invention, we will see a large number of invention "births" as downsizing increases. Plus, I could live on a lot less. What raises my anxiety level are higher property taxes and skyrocketing auto-insurance rates. So don't own property and don't drive a car! Why worry? Be happy!

Linda Matos
Houston
cortez@wow.com

Others have been understandably shaken by the state of the economy:

I'm anxious as hell. I was downsized more than a year ago. I've taught at two universities; written for a number of trade magazines; and held key marketing, sales, and communications positions; and I have an extensive technical background. I recently completed 800 hours of training in computer applications. Yet I can't find a job that pays more than $7.10 an hour. The big hitch is that I'm 61 years old, but I've got to work. I'm not satisfied, and I won't be if I can't get to work for a decent wage.

Ed Winslow
Lake Forest, Calif.

Of course, there are worse feelings than anxiety:

A few years ago, as a corporate middle manager, I came to work each Monday to find the office of another coworker dark and empty. Anxious? Scared to death was more like it. Now that I'm self-employed, I've improved to anxious.

Jim Ayres
AJL Resources
Littleton, Colo.
ja7857@msn.com

And for others, the answer's not so straightforward:

Both my family and my company have been on solid footing for three years, but it's always challenging to make ends meet. There is always expansion in some form or another: a new kitchen, a new product line. It requires a lot of imagination, creativity, and effort to keep on top of it all. Nothing can be taken for granted anymore. That does cause a bit of anxiety, but it also makes for fresh minds and new attitudes. Yes, I'm anxious, but it doesn't seem inappropriate or onerous. How about you?

Daniel Bradford
Publisher
All About Beer Magazine
Durham, N.C.
allabtbeer@aol.com

Concrete Jungles

In " Still the Best Places to Do Business" (July), Joel Kotkin hailed some urban centers as among the healthiest places for building businesses. One reader looked around his hometown and wondered if he and Kotkin were looking at the same place:

I can't speak about the other cities highlighted in the article, but as the owner of a geotechnical firm in L.A., I found Kotkin to be overly optimistic. He mentions that 70,000 to 90,000 jobs were created here last year, which may be true, but there are more than 10 million people in the greater L.A. area, which translates to new jobs for less than 1% of the population (whoopee!). New construction has always been the true baro-meter of economic health, and that sector has been stagnant in L.A. for most of the decade.

Drew Haney
President
Drew Associates
Van Nuys, Calif.
drewhaney@aol.com

Joel Kotkin replies: The roughly 84,000 jobs created in Los Angeles County translate to 2.1% to 2.4% job growth per year. If you add the other parts of greater Los Angeles, the number of jobs created over the past year rises to closer to 150,000. Los Angeles County's job-increase rate is about 50% higher than that of the national average. Not only is California producing jobs, it is producing a disproportionate share of them in high-wage industries, such as computer software, business services, wholesale trade, and now, aerospace as well. It's time for Mr. Haney and other Los Angeles businesspeople to smell the cappuccino and seize the new opportunities.

Harpooned IPO?

In our interview with Andy Klein ("Net Capital," Face to Face, July), he told us how he was able to turn to the Internet to raise capital to grow his company. One reader took issue with Klein's money-raising motives:

Your July issue described how Spring Street Brewery was able to go public through an Internet offering even though it "didn't have a prayer of raising much-needed capital through a traditional IPO." The article made it seem that the Internet was the solution to Spring Street's (and other capital-starved companies') problems. As noted in the offering prospectus--which I sent for in response to a newspaper ad many months ago--the founders had no experience in the brewing or retailing industries, the business was unprofitable from the start, the value assigned to the shares was arbitrary, and the company is in a very competitive industry with much better capitalized companies. Those are the main reasons the company had trouble raising capital. The Internet is not the solution to growing companies' problems, and "get-rich-quick" schemes abound.

Larry Sherman
Manalapan, N.J.

Robert A. Mamis responds: Klein's initial public offering and others like it that are sure to follow give us little-guy investors a chance to invest in other little guys. The speculative nature of Spring Street Brewery was de-scribed in its prospectus. The offering and its aftermarket trading were examined by a tough Securities and Exchange commissioner, who gave both an enthusiastic blessing. Klein's is by no means a "get-rich-quick scheme," and the Internet is a solution to the capital needs of emerging companies. It's up to investors to exercise discretion.

Great Scott

I loved your interview with Scott Adams (FYI, July). I spent eight years working for a large aerospace company as an engineer, successfully staying out of the management trap. Then I started a company, and I instantly became what I had tried not to be: management. I love reading Dilbert and laughing at "crazy management." But I also use Dilbert as a reality check on my management style. When I laugh, I know I'm OK. When I feel insulted, I know it's time to consider the possibility that Dilbert got a little bit too close to the truth.

James C. Rautio
President
Sonnet Software
Liverpool, N.Y.
rautio@sonnetusa.com

Focus: In Search of Young Suburban Start-ups

Are the rules for starting a business different for people with significant family responsibilities? One reader writes:

I am 30 years old, and for about three years I have had a burning desire to start my own export company, but I have three kids, a wife, a house, and a car. Your articles about young entrepreneurs feature single people who live either with their parents or in the barest minimum conditions. Not once have I seen an article about entrepreneurs (apart from those who were laid off with healthy severance packages) who started companies while carrying suburban responsibilities. I'd appreciate seeing this soon, as I want to start my business!

Fernando A. Labastida
Austin, Tex.
fernando.labastida@ccmail.ipctechinc.com

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House of Corrections

Two companies that should have been on the Inc. 100 list of fastest-growing small public companies (May) were omitted because of an editorial oversight. They were Transaction Network Services, which, with a growth percentage of 14,414%, would have ranked #5, and MedPlus, which, with a growth percentage of 2,401%, would have ranked #49.

In " Are We Making Money Yet?" (July), the address for requesting the strategic planning book offered by the Council of Smaller Enterprises was incorrect; j.susbauer@csuohio.edu is the correct address.

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