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Youth Will Be Servers
Company name:
Eggheads & Entrepreneurs Inc.
Address: 445 Boston Post Road, Orange (203-795-4141)
No. locations: 2
When founded: February 1998
Startup costs: $250,000
Current revenues: $38,000-$45,000/month
Principals: Justin F. Higgins, Dean G. Garamella, Stacey Brown
No. employees: 10 full-time, 7 part-time
Product/service: Online sales and marketing applications, Web site design, networking technologists and designers
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Business New Haven
11/15/1999
By: Priscilla Searles
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Eggheads & Entrepreneurs represents the thinking of a new generation marching into the next century. It was founded by Justin F. Higgins and Dean G. Garamella, who have been friends since high school. Considering that they were still in high school in the 1990s, they have hit the ground running.
By the time the company was incorporated in September 1998 the pair already had an ample list of clients. What the company does isn't easy to explain. They describe themselves as a one-stop technology company, designing Web pages and setting up Internet work. “Egghead” represents the technical side; “Entrepreneur” the business-acumen side. Joined shortly after they began their business by Stacey Brown, chief technology officer, E&E's client base ranges from a $200 billion company to one that does $1,000 a week in sales.
An example of the type of service E&E provides comes from a local auto dealership that needed up-to-date online inventory for its Web site. The company designed the database to store and track inventory and Web screens. The auto dealer can now add listings from any computer on the Web, and its customers have immediate access to product availability.
“Everything is custom-built to suit the client,” says Higgins. “There are no templates, and companies don't have to invest their own technical resources. In addition, companies don't have to go to multiple resources to solve their problems, which is a major convenience for the company and a major selling point for us.”
So far, so good for Eggheads & Entrepreneurs. But at a price: Higgins and Garamella point out that they've worked 80 to 100 hours every week since they opened. The idea for the company came in 1994 but the founders decided to hold off. “Consumers weren't ready in 1994,” says Higgins. “The Internet hadn't caught up with the masses, so we decided to use the time to save our money and learn more about the cutting edge of technology and more about business in general.
“We were prepared to go three years with no salary,” continues Higgins, “and we're a year and a half ahead of schedule. We haven't lost any customers or had any that weren't happy.
Asserting that schools seem unprepared to teach cutting-edge technology, they've started an internship program.
“Students are learning on our dollar,” says Higgins. Interns also enjoy “access to the latest technology and working with our technicians, programmers and designers in a real-work environment. They'll end up replenishing the Connecticut work pool rather than heading for California, as so many do.”
Not content to stand still, the pair are now launching a new company called Site Ventures.Net. “Venture” refers to the capitalist who brings them an idea, but needs technology to execute it. Eggheads & Entrepreneurs provides the technical resources to build the business idea, and will become partners with the ones they think are worthwhile.
“Vision without execution is pure hallucination” is how these two forward-thinkers describe their business philosophy. So far, it seems to be working.
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