Inc. Magazine: January 1, 2004

Features

Entrepreneurs of the Year

Be fast, be frugal, be right. These are the business principles that spurred Janie and Victor Tsao to transform their home-based start-up into a $500 million powerhouse that Cisco Systems just couldn't resist buying. Ian Mount

How I Did It: Roxanne Quimby

Building a company has been a lesson in balancing ambition and compromise for the co-founder of Burt's Bees. Susan Donovan

Letters to Bush

Re: The entrepreneurial owners of successful, fast-growing companies have some suggestions, compliments, and a few grievances to air when it comes to doing business under the Bush administration. FYI, Mr. Bobbie Gossage

High Noon in Aisle Five

If Rupert Murdoch's boys rode into your company's territory, what would you do: run for the hills or stay and fight? In the tradition of Gary Cooper's greatest role, the guys at one advertising company decided to stand tall. Joseph Rosenbloom

Priority

Spotlight: Backing Away from Free Trade

Why Democrats have strayed from Bill Clinton's policies on trade. Elizabeth Wasserman

Global Trends: Where It's a Woman's World

Looking for enterprising women? We suggest you head south. Bobbie Gossage

Five Ideas to Watch

Slurpees, planes, and cars improved; collect and trade...payroll; and one classical way to score in business. Nadine Heintz

Controversy: Leavitt to Bush's EPA

People dress as trout to protest Bush's new EPA chief. Jess McCuan

Human Resources Department: Hiring, Hollywood Style

What Hugh Grant and your marketing assistant may have in common. Bobbie Gossage

Security: Safer Harbors, Higher Fees

New Coast Guard rules could make shipping more expensive. Rod Kurtz

Mistakes: What Not To Do in a Press Release

The company that made the MGM lion roar in a not-so-good way. Nicole Gull

Q& A: Darrell Issa Recalls...Gray Davis, Among Others

Having revolutionized California politics, Darrell Issa takes a few questions from us. Mike Hofman

Briefs

Temp Hiring Signals Economic Recovery

Are factories filled with temps reason to rejoice? Nadine Heintz

Google Update Draws Criticism from Small Biz

Google changes the way it sells keyword ads. Rod Kurtz

Hands On

Managing: Why Can't We Be Friends?

Small companies may be informal, but there's a big difference between being a boss and being a buddy. Nadine Heintz

Case Study: Taking a Niche Player Big-Time

Keurig Inc. has transformed office coffee with its unique, one-cup-at-a-time system. Can it do the same for the at-home market--with machines that cost $250 each? Michelle Leder

Finance: A Chorus of Angels

After years of flying solo, angel investors are forming into groups--and changing the rules for cash-hungry entrepreneurs. Suzanne McGee

Benefits: Passing the Buck

A new health care tactic aims to lower costs by forcing employees to do a better job managing their own health expenses. Alison Stein Wellner

Getting Started: Charging Ahead

Half of all start-ups are financed with credit cards. But be careful: Sky-high interest could bury you for years. Bobbie Gossage

Ask Inc.: Daddy Dearest

What's a son to do when his father--who also happens to be his boss--won't take him seriously? Plus: Stop cold-calling now.

The Inc. Life

Trends: Wheeling and Dealing

The entrepreneurial set has taken wheeling and dealing to a whole new venue: go-kart courses. It's the new golf. Larry Olmsted

House Calls: Office Services

Time-management tip: Have your barber, manicurist, masseuse, or detailer come to your shop, not you to their's. Rory Evans

Private Lives: Powder Ranger

When winter sports thrills turn into nasty spills, ski patroller Alyson Dutch rides to the rescue. Stephanie Clifford

Essentials: Things I Can't Live Without...

For Stephen Maharam, a principal in his family's textile company, gorgeous gadgets are for buying. A photograph is for dreaming. Riza Cruz

Quick Picks

January's downtime distractions include Toshiba's Portégé M205, Sierra Wireless's Voq, and a good book, The Anatomy of Hope. Inc. Staff

Columns

Street Smarts: The Thin Red Line

Sometimes, success--or failure--is just one decision away. Norm Brodsky

Grist: What's in Store for '04

From "perfect storming" to CEOs as name-brands, here are some trends poised to take shape in 2004. Adam Hanft

In Every Issue

Letter from the Editor

Limited access to capital can actually make business owners smarter and their companies stronger. If you doubt this, read our cover story on Inc.'s Entrepreneurs of the Year. John Koten

His Pond Runneth Over

The pond guy, the dog lady, and more.

January on the Web

Starting Up On a Budget

Breaking out the plastic is one way entrepreneurs fund their fledgling businesses, as Bobbie Gossage discusses in "Charging Ahead" on page 42. But it's not the only way. Inc.com showcases entrepreneurs' tips, strategies, and success stories of starting up on a shoestring at www.inc.com/keyword/bootstrap.

How I Did It on Inc.com

Strangely enough, Roxanne Quimby's decidedly anticapitalistic lifestyle led her to start Burt's Bees, a manufacturer of natural personal-care products. Read more about how Quimby and other successful entrepreneurs run their businesses in a new section called How I Did It at www.inc.com/keyword/howididit.

Angel Investors Directory

Angel investors are joining forces and forming networks to help fund promising ventures. How do you find a few that might give your business a second look? Try using Inc.'s directory at www.inc.com/keyword/angelnetwork.

Search the Inc. 500

Did you know you can search present and past Inc. 500 lists for free on Inc.com? Go to www.inc.com/keyword/inc5002003 to see this year's winners, as well as winners from as far back as 1982.

Win a Technology Makeover!

Are you spending more time troubleshooting your office technology than using it? If so, it might be time for a technology makeover. Enter the Microsoft Technology Makeover Sweepstakes, and you could win up to $75,000 in desktops, notebooks, printers, servers, and software--all installed for free. Go to www.inc.com/keyword/techstation for details.