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Title: Founder and CEO
Company: SmartAge.Com, a San Francisco company that is trying to become the voice of small business on the Internet
Funding: Lohse invested $750,000, then raised $2.5 million from angels including Ben Rosen, Michael Dell, Roger McNamee and Bill Ziff. The third round added $7 million and was led by Accel Partners. In November Lohse raised $39 million with much of the money coming from SoftBank.
Employees: 115
Founded: Jan. 20, 1998
Age: 47
Residence: Lake Tahoe, Nev.
Big Picture
Reason for starting the business: It was clear that with all the success that
business-to-consumer sites had by 1997, there would be a need in the services sector. In our view, no one was helping small businesses succeed on the web. But now that category has exploded with 39 venture-backed startups and lots of big companies from AOL to Microsoft in the small business arena.
Hardest part of the decision: I have started seven companies. Building something from nothing is hard, especially finding the right people. I knew all this. Did I really want to do it again? There was an opportunity to change the world, to help small businesses pursue their passion, so here we are.
Biggest plus of ownership: The fun of being CEO is being able to build the team, hiring people smarter than me.
Biggest drawback of ownership: The nausea and terror that comes when I...