In 1994 I started a computer hardware reviews site called SysOpt.com in high school and by 1997 (Freshman in college) I was earning $100,000/year from banner ads. In 1998 I launched a second site, ResellerRatings.com. I continued operating the sites until 1999, when a company called Andover made an offer to buy them. A second company, EarthWeb, got into a bidding war with Andover and eventually bought the sites for several million dollars.
“At the age of 21 i had enough to retire! I could of spent the rest of my life on a beach”.
What inspired you to create your first website?
It was 1995 and I was really into Flight Simulators. I wanted to become a pilot, but I was too young at 14, 15, so I flew Microsoft Flight Simulator instead. Trouble is, I couldn’t afford a fast machine, so the framerate and gameplay werne’t realistic. I started SysOpt.com to swap benchmarking performance scores and PC performance tweaking tips with like minded people and later I wrote reviews of hardware (motherboards, graphics cards, etc). I remember the very first banner ad I had on the site was from an Internet retailer for something like $20. I also did a deal with an engineer in Canada to sell diagnostic cards for PC’s that wouldn’t boot (it was a hardware card that displayed a code to troubleshoot). They didn’t have Adsense back then obviously, though there was one CPM based network called Commonwealth, and since CPM’s were pretty high back then it was “easier” to monetize content.
What were the main challenges you faced in getting SysOpt.com off the ground?
I didn’t have many challenges really. I’d come home every day after school and work on the site. It was very basic at first and it was built over days, weeks, months, years, all spent working hours every day. It was not an overnight success and required a lot of dedication. But it was fun, I liked interacting with the site’s community. It was also a lot of fun to have big computer manufacturers send me all the latest free stuff to review, so that was motivating too.
What single factor would you say helped you the most in getting SysOpt.com where it is today?
I sold SysOpt.com 8 years ago, so I’ll speak to what helped me get it to where it was in ’99. By and large, it was the sheer dedication and time I spent on the site day in and day out. Brainstorming ideas, and implementing them one at a time. Writing reviews day after day. It’s only by implementing a large number of good ideas with an undying persistence that anything can ever become a success. When you see someone who’s a success, it looks easy because you don’t see the years that they spent toiling at a desk. The thing is, I always loved what I did – working on the site wasn’t work, it was pure fun. If you feel like you’re working, you’re not “working” on the right thing for you.
At just 21 Years old you had enough money to Retire, how did this feel?
I had enough money to retire until the dot com crash wiped out much of my buyout dollars. They liked to do stock deals back then, and the company that bought SysOpt.com was hit hard by the crash. I’ve done far better with my Internet business since 2001 than I did with the sale of the site. I sold ResellerRatings.com in ’99 as part of the SysOpt.com sale, but then had a chance to buy ResellerRatings back in ’02 for pennies. It was generating $0 then, and I and my team have built it into a 7 figure revenue business since then.
What did it feel like when Internet.com contacted you to buy your business?
“What did it feel like when internet.com contacted me to buy my business?” Actually, it was a company called Andover that contacted me. They’re the guys that bought Slashdot, and were eventually bought by VA Linux. When I got the first email from Andover containing their offer, I couldn’t contain myself. I started yelling at my desk, stood up and walked out on my balcony, and was screaming 
. It was an emotional moment for sure. Later, a company called EarthWeb came in and thus began a bit of a bidding war, and EarthWeb won out. Internet.com didn’t come into the picture until EarthWeb sold all of its sites (except Dice.com) to Internet.com later on, in 2000 or 2001.
’99 was a crazy time. The amount of money I was offered for my $100k/year site was nuts. No one buys businesses for those kind of multiples anymore. If you want a big payday, you need to build a sizable business, one that earns real profits. SysOpt gave me a good foundation, skills I needed to create a real business with substantial revenues, and that’s what I’ve been working on since then.
The best advice I can give you though, if you do sell a business for a sizable sum, is 1) get good advice, 2) don’t go nuts and start spending money, 3) take time to get used to it. Money isn’t inherently a good thing. It gives you more freedom and options (not having to work for someone else), but it gives you all kinds of stresses, responsibilities, and new problems. You should strive to be your own boss, set you own hours, and make enough money to save for your future. Striving to be rich is dumb. It’s like striving to own a BMW – once you have it, so what, then you want a Porsche etc. Money and material things don’t make people happy. People, goals, challenges, accomplishments, and the freedom to live one’s life how they choose – that’s what makes people happy.
Did you ever think you would be so successful?
Not for one second. I just did what I liked doing.
If you could go back in a time machine to the time when you were just getting started. What business related advice would you give yourself?
Have fun, don’t take anything too seriously.
Do you think that entrepreneurialism is something that is in your blood? Or is it something that can be learned?
It’s definitely in my blood. My dad worked for himself, as did his dad, as did his brother. Business ideas occur to me very effortlessly, it’s like my brain was wired to just spit out ideas. Some people are like that, others have to work harder at it, but if you are passionate about something, you’ll get excited and your brain will automatically come up with all kinds of good ideas.
Is there anyone that you look up to and model yourself on?
I’m a competitive cyclist so I have always been greatly inspired by Lance Armstrong. His struggles and triumphs are the stuff of legend and his “It’s not about the bike” book is a fantastically inspirational read even for non-cycling fans. I also was inspired by the business book “Good to Great”.
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
A few things: be humble, no one likes an arrogant jerk. It’s possible to be confident and an authority without being arrogant about one’s accomplishments. I may have been decently successful at web business but there are thousands of people whose web-business accomplishments make me look like a lightweight so it’s important to keep everything in perspective. Genuinely listen to what people have to say, you might learn something. And don’t ever burn bridges by being rude to someone, you never know when that person will come back to ruin you or when they could have have become an ally later. Finally, if you’re stressed out, I highly recommend: mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) classes which combine meditation and Yoga (they’re not weird or anything), daily exercise like lap swimming, walking, or cycling, and simply taking some time out alone each day to do nothing – just you and your thoughts. I participate in extreme cycling: 25-30+ MPH training rides with groups of 50+ cyclists, 3+ hour rides with 3,500ft of climbing – it’s fun and it burns off my stress nicely.
What is the best thing about being a successful young entrepreneur?
It’s actually kind of awkward to explain to people how I work from home, how I stay up late and wake up late in the AM (people perceive that as laziness), etc. People don’t understand that what I do is every bit as normal as any job, but I just have total creative control over what I work on and how much I work. It’s kind of a crazy lifestyle to have been in my early 20′s and not having to go into an office (I was officially an employee of EarthWeb for about 1 year but have never gone into an office every day), setting my own hours, working when I want to etc. If I don’t work, my business doesn’t grow, and I put in many a 15+ hour day for several years building my business, but now I try to work smarter and not as intensely by automating, delegating (what I talk about in my blog).
What are your plans for the future?
To continue growing our network of sites, coming up with new ways every day to better monetize the sites, etc. Onwards and upwards.
Scott now runs a website where he shares his website marketing, monetization, and development experience , which until now has been bottled up. I think it’s better to share and collaborate than to keep secrets, don’t you?
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About Michael
