How A Student With $1,100, Launched WhitePages, A $57 Mil A Year Business – With Alex Algard
Alex Algard was still a student when he had the idea to create a web version of the old white pages. He only had $1,100 in the bank, but because it was 1996, even the domainer who owned WhitePages didn’t realize how valuable the domain was. So Alex was able to negotiate a price of just $900 for it.
He didn’t have the infrastructure to find, store and serve up data on his new site, but he found a way around it. He made a deal with another web site to allow him to pull their data in real-time. His next challenge was bring in users, but the great domain name helped with that. For revenue, he used a freelance salesman. Mostly, the business was just a hobby. He didn’t even incorporate until 2000, around the time he made his first million dollars. Today, the company makes about that much in sales every week.
Along the way, Alex has launched the top car social network and has invested in tech startups. At this point, you probably want details. They’re in the interview. Listen and tell me what you think.
Alex Algard is the founder and CEO of WhitePages, the #1 destination for people search. He also serves as Chairman of CarDomain, the leading online community for auto enthusiasts, which he co-founded. In 2007, Alex was selected as the Software Entrepreneur of the Year, Pacific Northwest by Ernst & Young and as a finalist for Inc. magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year. And he invests in multiple startups through Algard Ventures.
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