by Chris Becicka
Mike Stahl and Ephren Taylor of GoFerretGo.com. Contact them at 913.451.9201
Ferret: a small, domesticated European polecat or (better in this case) to search for persistently and discover.
GoFerretGo.com: online service which helps companies and students seek out each other for one purpose: jobs.
What's more unusual than the name and logo creature though, is the fact that this new company, founded in 2000 by two 16-year-olds, still is scampering forward, recently fed by seven investors who contributed interest, faith, co-adult CEOs and $250,000.
Mike Stahl and Ephren Taylor, now 18, were at a Blue Valley High School job fair when they heard both employers and teen-agers complaining that the former could not find employees and the latter, employers. They decided to find a way to bring these two sides together. Thus was born 4Teens Network.
They renamed their internet site and it's making money, funded by sponsors such as Westin Crown Center, Mr. Goodcents, Pizza Hut, Harrah's and Granma's Catering. They have about 30 corporate clients and are concentrated in the Kansas City area. More than 13,000 students already have signed up, seeking jobs from companies as varied as law firms to hotels to the City of Olathe.
"What lights up our eyes," says founding ferret Mike Stahl, "is when our current clients call and tell us how happy they are - and then sign up for premium services." Stahl gets word of those calls every day, even when he's at school as a freshman at Wharton's undergraduate business school at the University of Pennsylvania.
The other founder, Ephren Taylor, works fulltime at the company's office with eight associates and attends KU's mini-MBA program at night. He is certified in numerous computer systems and database programs and is the author of the Apache Web Server test for Brainbench. The two students had already worked, and succeeded, together as partners in a Future Business Leaders of America student entrepreneurial contest in which they were named the top team for 1999-2000.
Stahl and Taylor agree they've learned much in the last year, and from all kinds of people, including John Vandewalle from inTouch Consulting and Dave Raden from Tucker Midwest, who serve as co-CEOs until a senior management team is in place. They mention the value of mentoring, of "wearing a different set of glasses every day" that experience provides. "We've learned to keep learning every day - about your business and the people around you," says Stahl.
The vice president of sales and marketing, Jeff Breedlove, originally sponsored the boys in the Entrepreneurs Contest as their history teacher. He joined the team after a stint at Cerner and says that working with teen-agers is "Fantastic! It's a great time. We all work as hard as we can - pitch in and get the job done. Mike and Ephren are great and capable individuals who are mature beyond their years." The young men also sing the praises of the Kauffman Foundation's EntrePrep Program which they both got involved with after their junior year and still work with today. "Not only did they educate us, but we have built some great relationships there and they have been very good to us," Stahl said.
The ultimate goal of GoFerretGo goes beyond connecting a business community with tomorrow's work force today. They plan to build a community that provides all kinds of services for teens and students, creating a viable community first in the Kansas City area and then nationally.
They're scurrying rapidly towards that goal.
Get your kids out of the house this summer by telling them to check out www.GoFerretGo.com.