Political Capital
An interview with CEO Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Elizabeth Dole's former chief fund-raiser. Read story
Mike Hofman
Hot Tip: Customer Service
Gene Balliett's financial-planning firm provides free service for any client's parent who is age 80 or older. Balliettand his wife, Dee, ... Read story
Doesn't Work Well with Others
It's almost impossible to really get to know job candidates through an interview process; there's not enough time, and all parties tend to be on their bes... Read story
Faith Popcorn: My Biggest Mistake
Faith Popcorn Founder, BrainReserve Inc., a marketing-consulting company based in New York City. She is the author of the best-... Read story
Star Boards -- Nothing but Star Boards
Operating under the theory that celebrities are money magnets, America's largest companies have long stocked their boardrooms with a ration of star power.... Read story
Ann Winblad: My Biggest Mistake
ANN WINBLAD Cofounder of and partner at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, in San Francisco, which has more than $500 million in... Read story
Upstarts: Tapping Generation Y
A new wave of start-ups is courting an unprecedented swell of cash-rich teens. But even if these teen-obsessed ventures strike the adolescent mother lode, ca... Read story
You Are Your URL
The founders of Salon.com, Mediabistro, and HotJobs.com talk about their struggles to register those domain names. Read story
Obit: Western-Wear Retailer Unhorsed by Suppliers
A look at how poor supplier relations, earthquake damage to 12 stores, and a fizzled fad for cowboy cool sent Howard Phil's Western Wear to the l... Read story
Don Shula: My Biggest Mistake
In 1989 my partner, David Younts, and I opened our first Shula's Steak House, in Miami Lakes, Fla. It should have been the beginning of a big chain, but I... Read story
Inc. 500 All-Stars
A look at the companies that have achieved the distinction of appearing on the Inc. 500 a staggering 5 times. Plus: Household-name companies that earned thei... Read story
A Company of Their Own
Software provider Shipco Logistics offers employees a special perk: help starting their own companies and becoming SAP certified. Read story
Steppenwolf's John Kay: My Biggest Mistake
The lead singer of Steppenwolf learned about the need to be hands-on with the business as well as the music. Read story
The Very-Long-Distance Recruit
It's tough to find good talent in the Bay Area's chaotic labor market. Job seekers often won't consider joining a company unless it either promises to off... Read story
Brand in the Making
If all goes well under James Prosek's ambitious business plan, he will be elevated from mere fish aficionado to standard-bearer for an entire way of life. Pl... Read story
Hot Tip: Customer Service
In a book due out this month, Stop and Sell the Roses (Ballantine, $25), entrepreneur Jim McCann of 1-800-FLOWERS reports that the $300 million f... Read story
Second Time's the Harm
One CEO learned that expanding to a second city can have many pitfalls. The marketplace is different, and many of your needs are different, too. Read story
Hot Tip: Trademark Registration
International companies can sometimes offer good prices on services. Case in point: Rider McDowell of Knight-McDowell Labs, in Carmel, Calif., wanted to t... Read story
Feed Back the Feedback
Walk into the Rhode Island gift shop called OOP and you will be dazzled -- if owners Jennifer Neuguth and David Riordan have done their job well. "The who... Read story
Go Glossy: How to Create a Beautiful Branding Tool on a Budget
Custom publishing, once considered the marketing wave of the future, has not lived up to its early promise. The problem is often the heavy cost of produci... Read story
Big-Bucks Ads: Advertise the Way the Big Players Do
It used to be that only humongous companies like Anheuser-Busch could afford to do an advertising blitz during a megaevent like the Super Bowl. Lately, sm... Read story
Empire of the Sons
Here's why the three brothers who founded Pac-Van, the 1999 #1 Inner City 100 company, decided to stay close to the inner-city location where both their fath... Read story
Local Area Network
By opting to keep her high-tech start-up, Thermagon Inc., in Cleveland, founder Carol Latham was able to leverage her local ties to build a sophisticated net... Read story
Impotence Clinic Flops In Wake of Viagra
Overly rapid expansion coupled with the introduction of the drug Viagra drove impotence-treatment clinic Integrated Medical Resources out of business. Read story
Go Public Through the Back Door
Forget about an initial public offering, says Tim Halter, president of the Halter Financial Group, in Dallas.HFG specializes in helping private companies ... Read story
The 10% Solution
Anthony Waldera spends more than he has to on his 401(k) plan, and he thinks you should too. Waldera is the CEO of Colorbrite Inc., a $16 million p... Read story
Beloved Zinfandel
Michael Apstein, a gastroenterologist and full-time wine critic, describes how he uses technology to balance his duel professions and still find time for his... Read story
Y2K Survival Strategies
Mark Hebenstreit is a toy maker, not a tech guy. But he knows he hasn't done enough thinking about the millennium bug. "I'm almost embarrassed because I'm... Read story
Obit: Taxi Company's Zeal for Service Backfires
When Yellow Cab owner Raymond W. Stubbs exiled cab drivers who wouldn't adopt his stringent customer service policies, the cabbies went solo, taking their cu... Read story
Hot Tip: Privacy Guidelines
In the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the National Retail Federation (NRF), which is based in Washington,D.C., and is the largest U.S. trade group f... Read story
Maximizing Your Marketing
The average age of Spice Girls fans is maybe 12, but Debbie Newman is counting on them to help boost her businessinto the big leagues. Newman, vice-presid... Read story
The Year of Dealing Dangerously
From mergers to IPOs, today's small businesses have a daunting number of possibilities before them. Here are five big deals that winners from the 1997 Inc. 5... Read story
Famous Splits
A look at what happened when well-known husband and wife entrepreneurial teams decided to divorce. Includes what each partner left with, and the present stat... Read story
Hot Tip: Bartering for Perks
Looking for inexpensive ways to improve your workplace? Try bartering for perks . For example, James Morel, the president of 1-800-POSTCAR... Read story
Family Logjam Blocks Lumber Store's Revival
Sutersville Lumber, Inc. was forced to shut down when it couldn't implement a strategy to compete with lumber giant, Home Depot. A business obit. Read story
Everyone's a Cost Cutter
Two entrepreneurs give advice on cutting costs through open-book management. Read story
Hot Tip: Community Involvement
Looking for a high-impact alternative to plain old charitable donations? At Bagel Works Inc., a $4-million retail bagel chain based in Keene, N.H., each o... Read story
Resources for Mentor Seekers
Mentoring programs Organization: Service Corps of Retired Executives Association (SC... Read story
The Only New Business in La Moure, North Dakota
Mike Kratz, owner of Kratz Aerial Ag Service Inc., was the only person to start a business in his town last year. He describes how he carved a niche for hims... Read story
Obit: Disco Nights End on a Downbeat
The Transylvania Restaurant in Portland, Oregon closed down after a delayed opening hurt profits and the restaurant's disco night offended its conservative R... Read story
