Letters

Readers react to articles from the September 1999 issue of Inc., including Susan Greco's "Get$$$Now.com," Nancy K. Austin's "First Aide," George Gendron's FYI, and an excerpt from The Magic of Dialogue, by Daniel Yankelovich.

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The feedback on our September issue focused primarily on two individuals: an MTV persona starting his own Web company and an erstwhile executive assistant whose $1-million recruiting business finds assistants for CEOs.

In praise of relationships

In our cover story " Get$$$now.com," Inc. senior writer Susan Greco chronicled how Dr. Drew Pinsky, cohost of the MTV show Loveline, used the on-line matchmaking service Garage.com to raise $1 million for his own Web start-up, Drdrew.com. This reader stressed that, despite the Internet's growing role in fund-raising, the human touch will never cease to be the most important factor in wooing investors.

Your cover story was a very good one. But speaking as a successful businessperson, I want to say this: please be aware that money people, almost without exception, want to personally meet with the individuals in whose companies they are considering investing. Why? For the intangibles that make or break a venture: the way the entrepreneurs present themselves; their self-confidence (but not arrogance); their smiles; their sense of humor; and whether or not they'll be able to look prospective investors in the eye when they meet with them.

The Internet will become a wonderful mechanism for prospective investors and entrepreneurs to use to find one another and conduct an initial screening. But if all goes well, the checkbook won't come out until the parties meet. If it was your money, would you feel any different?

Dick Kazan
Columnist
The Daily Breeze
Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

Another reader thought our tale of fund-raising success misrepresented the reality most entrepreneurs actually face.

In general I have found your articles regarding raising capital very educational. However, the cover story greatly oversimplifies the fund-raising process. While the anecdotes about the 19-year-old undergrads who stand up with notes on a napkin at Garage.com and get a million dollars and representation by a Big Five accounting firm make great copy, they do not represent the experiences of the greater portion of hardworking, bright entrepreneurs who have to scratch and claw for every nickel they raise.

I've worked in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area throughout the Internet boom, and we have yet to see money falling out of the sky or growing in the cracks of the sidewalk. The fund-raising process is arduous and even humbling -- and the world of would-be entrepreneurs should know that.

Jose Mallabo
CEO
Forthequarter.com
New York City

Melba toast

Inc. contributor Nancy K. Austin profiled the entrepreneurial path of Melba J. Duncan in " First Aide," a story of how Duncan, who worked as an executive assistant on Wall Street for 16 years, built the Duncan Group -- which recruits executive assistants -- into a $1-million business. To Duncan's efforts, these readers raised their glasses.

While my first issue of Inc. was sitting on my desk, I wondered why I had ordered it in the first place. Where would I find the time to read yet another publication? Well, I found it and am very glad I did. Your article on Melba Duncan was just the inspiration I needed, especially as I am about to take over a family-owned business. Duncan proves that we women can forge ahead in spite of the preconceived notions about us that loom large. I am in a male-dominated field. Some days I feel totally empowered, and then other days I don't want to get out of bed. But I press on anyway, hoping not to disappoint the family. Thank you for taking the time to write about Duncan and reaffirming my decision to subscribe.

Sherry Jones Ross
HVAC Sales Manager
The Altus Air Co.
Dallas

I just finished reading your article on Melba J. Duncan. It was fascinating. I've been an executive assistant for about 10 years, and this is the first article I've ever read in a business publication that expressed the importance of having a good one. Thank you for an article that restores my faith in the viability of excellent administrative support.

Becke Wolf
Executive Assistant
Service and Support Division
Evans & Sutherland
Salt Lake City

This Duncan fan appreciated the article but took exception to its claim that the Duncan Group was the nation's only retained-search firm dealing exclusively with administrative-support professionals.

What a delight to find the Duncan Group after all these years! Until I read your September issue, research had showed that our firm, Executaries by Gray, in St. Louis, was the only company that was retained 100% of the time to bring CEOs and secretaries together. Our customers often hire an "Executary" for a salary in the $60,000-to-$70,000 range -- much higher than the St. Louis numbers you included in the magazine under "What You Can Expect to Pay an Executive Assistant." We commend the Duncan Group and are pleased to know we are not alone in conducting retained executive secretarial searches.