Wharton alum conquers world of business

Scott Kurland, a 1996 Wharton graduate, founded The Gatling Group, an international management company. Only a couple of years ago, 1996 Wharton graduate Scott Kurland thought he'd just get his degree and work on Wall Street. But his plans have changed, and Kurland is sitting on top of the world. At 22, Kurland is president, CEO and co-founder of The Gatling Group -- a management company he started with his college roommate Raja Gupta. His path to success has been a monumental one. During winter break of his senior year, Kurland got a job with Datek Securities, a day-trading firm in New York. In two weeks, he learned the ins and outs of their software, which scans the stock market for volatility in stocks and allows traders to customize what they're looking for. The software, Kurland explained, allows a trader to buy or sell with the press of a button, and thus react immediately. He then realized that the software at Datek could be used by people outside of professional investing. "I thought it would be a great idea for anyone in the general public and who was interested in trading," he said. To turn his idea into a legitimate endeavor, during spring 1996 Kurland approached another day-trading firm in Houston with the knowledge he had gained over the winter. "My freshman roommate, Raja Gupta, and I went down together," he said. "We thought we had a deal hashed out and came back to school to find out that the project fell through." But by the next winter, a cover article in Inc. magazine featuring Block Trading founders Chris Block and Jeff Burke found its way to Kurland -- by then a college graduate and an employee at a start-up consulting company. "I called their office developer at 11 o'clock that night," Kurland said. "I said I was on my way with money, a management team and everything needed to manage and run a Block Trading office in Boston." In a matter of weeks and with the help of friends and family, Kurland, Gupta and three other Gatling partners raised half a million dollars in capital to open a Boston branch office. "We got the rights to three locations: Boston, San Francisco -- which opens next week -- and Las Vegas," he said. And so began The Gatling Group, a company that Kurland hopes will eventually manage several firms -- not only from the investment sector but from other areas as well. Kurland added that he hopes the company will provide the "turn-key solution" to any financial institution looking to expand. "Gatling provides financial service solutions to firms, whether it be computing, communications, staffing or overhead expansion," he said. "Right now we have a 10-year-plus contract with Block Trading." He noted that day-trading's success -- and his own -- depended on the advent of computers. "There's nothing like computer technology to put a little guy on par with the big guys," he said. Another upshot of his experiences has been the freedom and satisfaction of working for himself. "I set my own schedule, I travel back and forth," he said. "And I know I am providing an opportunity everyday for people to work for themselves." Reflecting on the success of his own work, Kurland gives gentle words of advice. "It's really a matter of setting your mind to it," he said. "As an incredible professor at Wharton, Myles Bass, told me, 'Why not if you don't have anything to lose?' " Bass, meanwhile, said the success of his student "can be attributed to several key characteristics: diligence, tenacity, dedication, intelligence and integrity." "His excellence in the classroom in concert with his unswerving work ethic provided the launching pad for what is rapidly becoming a brilliant entrepreneurial career," the Management lecturer added.