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Thread Index [isp-marketing] Young ISP Owner
I thought everyone might be interested in this article about a 15 year old ISP owner. The only thing I can say is that Young adults think without boundaries... Got it in a Google alert from the Michigan area this morning. ----- Totally wireless Young, local Internet service provider aims to go national Sunday, June 26, 2005 By Rob Clark times business editor He's been called the next Bill Gates. Well-established professionals have jumped at the chance to be aligned with him. Local businesses have offered their services at reduced rates to help make his dreams a reality. Meet Jordan R. Dice, age 15. As president and chief executive officer of StarNet Wireless LLC, 135 Washington Ave., Dice is looking to shift the world of Internet communications into another stratosphere. His goal: Establish nationwide wireless Internet service - something that now does not exist. Dice's year-old company provides high-speed, broadband Internet service to commercial customers throughout the United States, as well as to local residents. The company also specializes in computer sales and service, as well as computer network services, and is equipped to host large databases of information for government entities. But Dice believes the future of technology lies in the ability to connect the nation's Internet users without using cables. So he recently jumped at the chance to test a high-speed radio communication device being developed by Ohio-based ElvaLink LLC. The device allows for an Internet signal to be transmitted on a 94-gegahertz frequency from one point to another. Such a frequency is much higher than a typical radio station frequency and therefore can transmit information much faster and with more reliability. Dice, who lives in Essexville, was one of the first in the United States to test the technology and is the only person in Michigan to do so. During the tests, Dice was able to transmit Internet signals from one to three miles during both fair weather and precipitation. The signal is capable of traveling five miles, with one mile being the optimum distance, Dice said. If the technology is approved by the Federal Communications Commission, Dice hopes to construct a network of towers that, theoretically, could transport a signal around the country by bouncing from one tower to the next. "My idea is to start with two towers and as customers subscribe to the service, I'll use the profits to reinvest for more towers," Dice said. He expects some sort of nationwide wireless service to be available in the next two to three years and said he could be the first to offer such a service, despite the fact that each transmitter has a price tag of $15,000. While Dice has put the burden of earning that money on his own shoulders, he is getting plenty of help planting his feet in the business world. Among his five employees is Marlo Leveling, 37, who works as vice president of sales and service. Leveling is also president of Mobile Management Systems, a communications consulting firm she founded in April 2004. Earlier this year, Leveling decided to join forces with Dice in a company merger of sorts. While Mobile Management Systems still exists on paper, Leveling, who has 22 years of experience in the communications industry, has thrown all of her energy into helping Dice grow his customer base and promote StarNet Wireless. "Would you have not wanted to be Bill Gates' first employee and grow with him?" said Leveling. Dice also has free use of the 28,000-square-foot building - the former National Environmental Supercomputer Center - where StarNet Wireless is based. That's compliments of James E. Johnson of Flint, a developer whose properties include the AmericInn hotels in Bay City and Flint, the Sleep Inn in Midland and the Freeland Banquet Center. Johnson, who is a StarNet Wireless customer, says Dice is an intelligent, hard-working young man. "Technically, he's very good, and he really cares about what he does," Johnson said. "He's ahead of the curve and I think as long as he stays on the cutting edge, he'll do well." Johnson considers the former Supercomputer Center to be a business incubator of sorts for Dice to use while StarNet Wireless is in its infancy. Because the building sat empty for nearly six years before Dice moved in, there was a significant amount of cleaning up that had to be done, especially outside the property, where trees, shrubs and ivy had gone without trimming for years. So earlier this month, Rich's Lawn & Garden of Portsmouth Township donated 16 hours and $4,200 worth of landscape reconditioning to Dice for only $50, Leveling said. "It's kind of nice to help people out when they've got so much potential at such a young age,"said Rich Dewald, owner of the landscape business. "He's very hard working and has a vision. " I liked his story." Muehlenbeck Distributing Co. of Saginaw also pitched in by donating a banner sign for the company to use outside the building, she said. And when Dice invited Bay City Mayor Robert J. Katt to a lunch meeting last week, he rented a limousine from Bay City's Silver Sand Limousine at half price, she said. Dice, who lives in Essexville and sports a mustache to look older, says he is a self-taught techie. He did his first work on a computer at age 7, created his first Web page that same year, and wrote his first computer program at age 8. After completing the seventh grade, Dice enrolled at Delta College, where he is one semester away from earning his associate's degree in computer science and information technology. He plans to pursue a bachelor's degree in computer science and business management at Saginaw Valley State University. But StarNet Wireless is his first priority, and although he won't even have his driver's license for another year, Dice seems to understand what it takes to make it in big business. Dice says he works an average of 100 hours each week and is constantly checking to make sure income outpaces expenses. "We are making money," said Dice, who acknowledges he's a bit obsessed with the books. "I watch our accounting on an hourly basis." Dice's entrepreneurial spirit may come, in part, from his father, Cliff V. Dice, founder and chief executive officer of Dice Corp. The alarm management and security software company is based at 1410 S. Valley Center Drive in Monitor Township. Like his son, Cliff Dice dropped out of school after the 10th grade and started his company when he was in his early 20s. Dice Corp. now has more than 100 employees and annual sales topping $10 million. Jordan Dice declines to talk about his father when it comes to business; he says he isn't flying on his dad's boot straps. Cliff Dice acknowledges that his son is trying to make it on his own and that he's very impressed by what Jordan has accomplished. "He's doing good. He's a pretty independent young man and I'm very proud of him," said Cliff Dice. "He's got quite a concept and I think he can do it." The elder Dice believes his son has an advantage over other Internet companies that might be interested in building a national wireless network. "The advantage he has is that he is starting from scratch with new technology, rather than having to replace infrastructure," said Cliff Dice. Dice said he has talked with his son about burning out too fast, but understands the mentality behind his son's drive. "He has his whole life ahead of him and he doesn't have to get everything at once; but what do you do with a young man that has so much energy?" Cliff Dice said. - Rob Clark is business editor for The Times. He can be reached at 894-9642. ____________________ Jack Brandt Business Development Manager Register.com www.rcomexpress.com <http://www.rcomexpress.com/> E-mail: jbrandt@... Phone: 212-817-4637 Fax: 212-202-5271 __________________________________________________ ISPCON Fall 2005 - October 18-20, Santa Clara, CA FREE EXHIBITS ONLY PASS AVAILABLE NOW! www.ispcon.com ISPCON in Baltimore was jumping! Sign up NOW for the fall event in Santa Clara.. don't miss a minute! _________________________________________________ To unsubscribe via postal mail, please contact us at: Jupitermedia Corp. Attn: Discussion List Management 475 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016 Please include the email address which you have been contacted with. Copyright 2005 Jupitermedia Corporation All Rights Reserved.
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