Wharton senior Nathaniel Stevens thought his online marketing firm was getting off to a nice start. By October, he had nearly 20 steady clients and was generating enough revenue to pay four full-time employees.
But he had no idea his efforts would get him named one of Business Week's best 20 entrepreneurs under 25.
Stevens launched natpal.com in August. The site, which places links to local businesses in the results of Web searches, caught the attention of Business Week editors last month.
Although a Business Week reporter interviewed Stevens early in October, the list was not released until the end of the month.
Stevens had almost forgotten about the interview when "all of a sudden, our Web site traffic spiked from 80 visits a day to 2,000," he said. "And that's how we knew."
Although no Business Week reporters could be reached for comment, the article praised Stevens for "allow[ing] local businesses to connect with local consumers."
While many small-business owners wanted to use Stevens' services after seeing the article, he tried to downplay the attention in order to guard Natpal from potential competitors.
"We didn't win the lotto by [being recognized by Business Week], but things are coming together," he said.
Two summers ago, Stevens was working for his family's car dealership, which had not yet established a Web site. After helping the dealership make the jump to the Internet, he thought that other small businesses might need help adapting.
He took his idea, buffered in a 50-page business plan, to the Wharton Venture Initiation Program, which helps student entrepreneurs further their ideas. From VIP, he received office space, a telephone line and Internet access, as well as advice from local entrepreneurs.
He used the space to work on two services that he said are essential to helping small businesses thrive -- Web site design and listing local businesses in the sponsored results of popular search engines. These two services form the core of Natpal.
Because more consumers are looking for local services on the Internet rather than in the phone book, presence in search-engine results is vital, Stevens said.
And links generated by Natpal show up only when users search for a specific business in a specific area, he added.
"In some ways, [the Internet is] the wild, wild West of the 21st century -- there's a lot of garbage out there," he said, referring to pop-up advertisements, which interrupt an Internet search.
Lead Adviser for VIP Leslie Mitts said that Stevens has taken full advantage of the program's resources.
"I never had any doubt that Nathaniel would be a wonderful success," she said.
Stevens said that working with VIP advisers and local entrepreneurs helped him patch up holes in his business model. Past student entrepreneurs have launched firms that sell robots that dismantle land mines, high-tech surfboards and wireless services to amusement parks. Marco Lentini, the founder and owner of the Gia Pronto restaurant on campus, was enrolled in VIP.
Panos Stavrinides, a 2005 College and Engineering graduate, who helped Stevens with the technical side of Natpal, said he thinks their newfound fame from Business Week will advance interest in entrepreneurship at Wharton.
At Wharton, "there is absolutely a culture of entrepreneurship," Stavrinides said. "Even though I myself wasn't really interested in entrepreneurship."
For now, Stevens has his hands full.
Starting your own business is "kind of like you're building your own future," he said. "If you think you can be successful and you believe in yourself, it's less risky than climbing most corporate ladders."
Top 20 under 25 - Wharton senior Nathaniel Stevens named top young entrepreneur by 'Business Week' magazine - Stevens' Web site Natpal.com links local businesses to local customers via Internet search engines
