As a practical matter he had no past, only a
future. That's when he really came alive: when you
got him on the subject of what was going to happen
next
So writes Michael Lewis of Jim Clark in his new
bestseller, The New New Thing, about the people in
the place of the future, Silicon Valley. The new
new thing it's the thing to do these days: come
up with an idea, start an Internet company, and
get filthy rich.
Even though Yale University junior Joshua Newman
doesn't quite have Clark's billions, Lewis could
have been writing about Newman. This Internet
wonderkid has already launched two startups, and
he, like Clark, comes alive when you get him
talking about the possibilities of the future.
Newman grew up in Palo Alto, CA (the Internet
mecca of the world), but entered Yale with no
business experience and certainly no intention of
someday starting his own company. "If you told my
parents then that I'd be doing something like
this," Newman says, "there would have been mild
shock and incredulity." It was during his freshman
year at Yale that Newman met David Fischer, then a
junior, and the two of them began playing around
with the idea of starting their own business.
Newman's first start up, with Fischer, was
Sharkbyte, an Internet strategy and consulting
site that was recently acquired by Quantrum
International.
While others hit Wall Street or Capitol Hill for
fancy summer internships, Newman devoted his past
two summers to working feverishly to hit the
Internet jackpot and he plans to spend this
upcoming summer launching his newest company,
Paradigm Blue, a venture capital site dealing with
studentdriven projects. During the school year,
Newman has the typical college student's challenge
of juggling school and play. But in Newman's case,
play is running his company, meeting prospective
clients, and driving into New York City several
times a week. How many hours a week during the
school year does Newman devote to his nonacademic
work? Newman doesn't keep count he's too afraid
of the figure that he'd come up with.
The summer, then, presents an ideal opportunity,
not only for Newman but also for students anywhere
interested in starting up their own Internet
company, or getting a job with someone else's
Internet company to see what it's like.
During the summer months Newman did extensive
traveling, meeting with potential clients all over
the country. He has employed several college
students in his company. The summer has become a
popular time for students to get their feet wet in
the business, and Newman has taken advantage of that.
Startup internships vary wildly in the type of
work you do, the atmosphere, and the pay. Very few
start ups have formal internship programs. Still,
Newman explains, "Fast growing companies are
almost always excited to find new employees, even
just for the summer months. The type of internship
strongly effects compensation: a sales or
marketing intern might make only $500 a week,
while a programmer could probably find work paying
more than twice that." Of course, if the startup
you are working with goes public, well then, let's
just say you probably won't be needing Regis
asking you whether or not that's your final answer.
But don't get too excited. Since he jumped into
the Internet biz three years ago, Newman has seen
his fair share of Internet successes and failures.
Sure, a big payoff is a possibility. But believe
Newman when he says, "I got a chance to see
several people who came in when I came in. And I
have to say that those people that came in for the
specific and sole reason of becoming filthy
stinking rich mostly failed."
So it shouldn't be all about the money, and it
isn't
for the most part. What it is about, Newman
says, is what is going to happen next. "I'm really
excited about technology and envisioning how it
can change daily lives," Newman says. "The whole
idea of a simple single site coming along and
completely changing the way something works is
very exciting.
So if you don't know what you're doing this
summer, consider working for a startup or
starting your own Internet company. According to
Newman, all a startup takes is a good idea and
good networking. But the new new thing is not for
everyone. It's hard work, and it's something you
have to love. "One day," Newman remembers, "I was
with Dave [Fischer] and we were driving and we had
heard of a guy who said he spent 80 hours a week
working on this stuff. We started laughing, but
then we realized that that day alone we had worked
16 hours." Newman also uses the example of another
acquaintance of his who read Internet business
magazines late at night and can't get to sleep
because of the sheer excitement that the reading
brings. Okay, maybe that's a bit extreme, and, as
Newman says, "a bit perverse." But, he says, "As
perverse as it sounds, those are the types of
people that do well."
In the end, getting into the world of startups
has no set rules. Newman has one last piece of
advice for aspiring Internet entrepreneurs: meet
as many people as you can. "If you see a site you
like and have some ideas, email them."
For now, Newman is focused on launching Paradigm
Blue. His goal is for the site to raise $10
million by May 1, at which time he and his
partners will close the fund and start their fun.
What comes next, who knows. But that's what's so
fun about the new new thing.
