Hobbies and Pastimes


Nolan Bushnell is Back in the Game

Nolan Bushnell founded Atari, employed Steve Jobs, built a bunch of robots, and pretty much invented the whole cocky-young-entrepreneurial-genius pose. He's ...  Read story

Have Fun at the Airport

Five cures for the layover blues  Read story

Business for Pleasure: Hobby Businesses

For many small business owners, the business is more a labor of love than a reliable source of income. This is most often the case when the owner has othe...  Read story

Home Workers Win Case Against Feds, Labor

It was billed as a case of big government and big labor vs. "the little people," and it appears that the little people have prevailed. The issue was...  Read story

The Solid-gold Roller Coaster

In the volatile collectibles market, Jim Halperin and Alan Hershon stayed ahead by learning how to react to rapid change.  Read story

What Products Should I Sell?

My business is to show people where they can find products to sell without investing a single penny in inventory. The approach is called drop shipp...  Read story

The Challenge Of Cartridges

Ever since video games were first introduced to the market, the industry has been especially fertile ground for company start-ups. From 1977 to 1981 indus...  Read story

The Flipping Of Coin Fortunes

New England Rare Coin Galleries Inc., whose fortunes were described in "The Solid-Gold Roller Coaster" (see INC., April 1982), is proving that the rare co...  Read story

An Ace in Your Pocket

With the Samsung BlackJack smart phone, you are sure to receive a fast payout.  Read story

The Art Of Management

Ten years ago, the two founders of a New York City-based executive search firm spent their first retainer on three prints from a gallery in Greenwich Vill...  Read story

Son Of Pac-man

Quick! What does the Internal Revenue Service have in common with Pac-Man? Yes, both are known for their appetites. And now it's also true that they both ...  Read story

Playing By The Rules

Gary Gabrel built Pente from a college-student's hobby to a million-unit sales success. But it may be time to trade in his unconventional moves for a more tr...  Read story

Real Men Get Flowers, Too

Flowers have traditionally been regarded as something sent along with a social note or a condolence card but those days are apparently over. "It too...  Read story

Good Move, Monty

Experts said computer Scrabble couldn't be done, but programmers from the Iowa cornfields have packaged a fast-thinking, tough-minded, hand-held little playe...  Read story

The Ricardo Montalban Of High Tech

Few entrepreneurs launch their businesses dressed in a leotard and a crown, but that is exactly what Ron Gordon was wearing when his latest venture, Club ...  Read story

The Growth Industry

The broad greenswards of suburbia are proving to be fertile ground for a new service business. Mowing lawns has remained the province of teenage entrepren...  Read story

When The Magic Goes

The adoring crowd of 300 engineers executives, and reporters fell silent. They had gathered this Friday night in the bright new site of Sente Technologies...  Read story

The Real Father Of Video Games

Your story on Nolan Bushnell ("When the Magic Goes," October 1984) was great, and it has me looking forward to the next exciting episode. But it left me w...  Read story

Cultivating Growth

Behind the quaint New England facade of White Flower Farm lies a market-driven company fueled by repeat business and one of the highest average orders in the...  Read story

Money In Coins

Rare coins are no more confusing or erratic than any other investment ("All that Glitters," Personal Portfolio, November 1985). Talk to five different sto...  Read story

Splitting Heirs

Nearly a hundred years ago, Lorenzo Vaughn planted a time bomb in his company. Finally, it went off  Read story

Sail Away

Sales manager awards his salespeople with an $800 travel credit when they reach their sales quota.  Read story

Eye on the Sparrow

Company is marketing a video bird-identification board game.  Read story

Plant Purification

A short list of office pollutants and the potted plants which most effectively neutralize them.  Read story

Get a New Perspective

R D for new goods and services is too important to be left to the same folks. Here's why.  Read story

Xbox Live Leaves Indie Developers in the Cold

Xbox will be even more socially connected, come autumn, but will smaller game developers be let in on the action? Probably not.  Read story

The Perfect Internet Business

Garden.com is one of the hottest Internet companies around, but what's so special about it is how basic it is. Here's what you can learn from the secrets of ...  Read story

By Special Arrangement

Flowers are a perennial business gift. But how do you find the best and brightest blooms?  Read story

The Trouble with Tax Holidays

Consumers and politicians love them, but state sales tax holidays are becoming a major headache for businesses.  Read story

A Skimmer's Guide to the Latest Business Books: Changing the Game: How Video Games Are Transforming the Future of Business

The book: Changing the Game: How Video Games Are Transforming the Future of Business, by David Edery and Ethan Mollick; FT Press...  Read story

Just Play

As the makers of the games Guitar Hero and now Rock Band settle into their success -- check that, their utter domination of the world's basements and dorm ro...  Read story

Working Wonders on the Web

The Internet isn't just for decorative marketing sites these days. Companies on the leading edge are harnessing the Web to run some of their most strategic o...  Read story

Her Kind of Town

How landscaper Christy Webber (Inner City 100 2004's No. 54) mowed her way into the hearts of Chicago's elite.  Read story

Inside the Smartest Little Company in America

Whit Alexander and Richard Tait, founders of Cranium Inc., had never run a business before. But they did have one thing going for them: brains. That's why th...  Read story

Etiquette: Pick Me!

A boss's guide to buying flowers.  Read story

On The Board

One company keeps itself in check.  Read story

Train Wreck

Mike Wolf always dreamed of running toy-train icon Lionel. Now he's locked in a death struggle with the company he loved. A report from model railroading's t...  Read story

Jackpot!

Before Steve Lipscomb launched the World Poker Tour, poker had a vaguely seedy rep. Now it's a national obsession, and the WPT is a public company with a mar...  Read story

Atari sneezed, and EA caught a cold

Electronic Arts , founded by Trip Hawkins, in 1982, was the first software development firm to sell its products directly to consumers ins...  Read story

The Get Ahead Guide: Seema Sudan Made Money on Her First Collection

But the rag trade is full of knockoff artists. How can she protect her brand?  Read story