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Congress Webocratic
One of the benefits of selling his company at the top of the bubble of dot-com is that you can finance his own campaign for Congress. Jared Polis sold two Internet companies – both in figure nine bids – before winning the Democrat nomination for Congress in District 2 in Colorado. On November 4, 33 years old-Polis made the traditionally Democratic district, which would make him the first openly gay state representative.
Move polite "politics is the second chapter of his career. A 1999 law limits exquisite discharged BlueMountain.com – a popular but unprofitable cards electronic greeting company that had spread to her parents' modest ink on the cards – Excite @ Home for $ 780 million in cash and stock. In 2006, in a less heated business Polis has sold a new business project, ProFlowers, to Liberty Media for $ 470 million.
Polis has used his financial freedom to keep a wish list of other businesses in the areas of profit, public and nonprofit – - Of a chain of Spanish-language cinemas aquaculture venture fund to a school for homeless children.
He won a seat in the Council for Educational Administration from Colorado in 2000 and spent more than $ 5 million of its own funds for his campaign in the House. Inc.com he spoke about his efforts the company has prepared for his move into politics.
Were you born with a contractor error?
Actually began in high school. I want to buy scrap the Department of Defense and sell to recyclers. I arrangements for transport and trucks. Then I started a company Internet access when 19 years in 1994, called American Information Systems – was two friends of the college, mostly working in our bedroom with a server and some modems. We harvested about 1.5 million dollars in venture capital in 1996, sold in 1998 for about $ 23 million of Exodus Communications.
BlueMountain.com How do I start?
My mother is a poet and my father, an artist who publish books and calendars, and maps. They have a greeting card company called Blue Mountain Arts. In 1996, I launched BlueMountain.com as a spin-off, but a society totally different. It was a site for electronic greeting cards where people can send cards online. We license content from other companies and artists. We had no idea it would be the success it was. In 1997, we saw that it was a huge traffic and more potential, so I went to full time.
How big did you get?
I think that during its heyday, the website is the sixth largest on the Internet. Let's monetize through advertising revenue when he sold it, but it was not profitable. In this the age Internet companies were valued based on eyeballs, and of course, the sixth most popular site was a strong demand from Internet companies that want to increase your traffic. It was a great time to have an outlet for an Internet company. We have had several suitors, and also had the opportunity to make it public. Finally, we have chosen to work with Excite @ Home.
Excite @ Home is a thing of the past. What came to Bluemountain?
To be sold at AmericanGreetings.com, which receives an annual fee for use. The card company's role is still online at sps.com.
Meanwhile, ProFlowers who grew up in a very different …
This had been hard to build more than eight years before I sold it in 2006. We raised the capital and made public in 2003. When we sold, I think there were about 400 million dollars in sales. We were actually No. 7 in the INC 500 in 2003. Now is the third editorial largest flower after 1-800-Flowers and FTD.
This has been a difficult market to penetrate. Students in e-commerce knowledge FTD history of that invented "flowers by wire" almost 100 years. How do you compete?
We have invented a new way of doing things. We not work with florists – send flowers directly from growers. The freshest flowers arrive several days, and we have reduced overhead costs, so they are more Cheap.
Cinema Latino Where does it come?
There is this place the great Spanish language market in the United States. There are Spanish Radio Spanish television, very successful, but no movie theaters in Spanish. So we went into this business. We had four movie theaters in Arizona, Texas and Colorado. We would like find a vacancy or a theater, by default run some of them are second to resume the leases, and change the format of most Spanish – With both language films dubbed in English and Spanish films. We have seen great changes in their operations. I just sold the company [business] in a third.
Where is the funding of aquaculture?
Aquacopia Enterprises is a pioneer in capital investment in the capacity of our seas in order to produce food sources. One of the problems we are dealing with everyone is over-exploitation of our seas – we must reduce our demand for wild harvest. We made four investments in this area. One is working to transform the effluent from the breweries in fish feed. I started the fund, but I'm involved in as a managing partner or any other decision-making role.
Did you also open some schools?
I ran for and was elected to the State Board of Education. In the civil sector, began to charter schools that serve more youth at risk. New America School, a charter school that I started and was superintendent of a couple of years, working with 16 – to 21-year-old, new immigrants and help them learn English. We now have over 1,000 students on four campuses in Colorado, New Mexico expansion plans. He also co-founded a school for homeless youth in Denver, called the Academy of Urban Learning.
What I want to run a school?
It is very different than a company of flowers or a movie theater, as more 90 percent of revenues in the business school from the government. There are a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy. It is difficult for small businesses in this game, if not always have staff with skills.
Therefore, you were a member of the board of education. What lead to the implementation House seat in the U.S.?
Mark Udall has left his post to run for Senate, has created an opening. While he thought the issues that most affect our future, I felt that this would be a good time to start to turn significantly nationwide.
You're openly gay. Does this happen in your country?
Come on, I found a different kind of Congressman. It is not a typical political career. Being gay is not a huge problem, but its part of the agreement is another kind of congressman. I think there's a lot to me that [my sexual orientation], if success in the private sector or the operation of schools. Certainly it is not an issue for my constituents and I think most Americans have spent really have the choice of candidates on merit, not on race or gender or sexual orientation.
Campaigned as running a start-up?
The work ethic is like. This is a start-up environment, a fighter group of men and women who are spread the word. Thus the culture, I felt very comfortable. You work from seven in the morning until midnight. The substance of the work for the candidate is more monotonous than the implementation, because it is repeating myself a lot and tries to sound as enthusiastic about 30 times during the day I talked with my health plan or my plan to end the war in Iraq.
Thus, politics is like the web – you can get more eyes?
I applied my experience in new media using Facebook and MySpace to reach young voters. It's something my opponent has, and one of the reasons why they have won. This is mainly a marketing exercise and sales.
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