Wharton frosh, compute whiz is own boss

Unlike his Wharton classmates who aspire to someday own a successful business, freshman Adam Stein already owns one. Stein combined his love for business with his interest in computers and became the founder of his own software company -- at age 14. "I've always been interested in business," Stein said. "When I was a little kid I used to sell solder. I sold it for like ten cents in first grade or something." Now at age 18, Stein has been profiled for his System 7 Pack for the Macintosh in MacUser, MacWeek and MacWorld as well as other user group magazines and books. Stein's company, named Insanely Great Software after the favorite expression of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, has proved so successful that Stein added an 800 telephone service number which "made it a lot easier for people to order," Stein said. "For people from overseas, it's a lot easier to pay with credit cards," he added. After he graduates, Stein said he plans to expand the business from a hobby to a full-time job. He added that he would like to concentrate more on running the business than on programming. His best-selling product is an enhancer for System 7, the current operating system for the Macintosh. His System 7 Pack received four stars in the February issue of MacUser. "It makes [System 7] faster, easier to use -- it lets you customize it," Stein said. "It gives you an easy-to-use interface for most of the known hacks to make System 7 better." Stein publishes his software through shareware, which means it is distributed freely for demonstration purposes, but must be purchased if used. "It's extremely difficult to force people to pay because they don't really have to," he said. "There's no gun to their head." Stein said that what he enjoys most is the independence of owning his own business. "As an entrepreneur, I'm in total control," Stein said. "I'm not at anyone's mercy. Whether you fail or succeed, it's all up to you."

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