Introductions, or "Who the ??"

The Internet, to borrow from Douglas Adams, is big. Really big. And yet, no matter how big the Internet gets, it seems to be constantly filling up with mind-numbing personal accounts of this, that and the other. With this jumble in mind, I am pleased to present Bookstrapped - yet another mind-numbing personal account, though it is my personal account; that alone should be worth something.

This blog is two things: a personal account of my bootstrapped ventures into the world of online business, and... well... er... humph. It's just one thing. As this is a fairly "personal" blog, I felt it was only appropriate to christen its hallowed pages by introducing the author.

My name is Jeff Beck, and I am an Internet Entrepreneur, or "Interpreneur" for short. However, in the spirit of full disclosure, it should be noted that I am a very bad one. I launched my first company while in High School - Savant Technologies. Yes... I know what savant means. But for some hazy reason, it sounded cool at the time. Shortly after completing my education, I started another company, Interworks Inc., which launched with what seemed at the time to be perfect timing: directly into the 1990's Internet bubble. Should I say more. No, I don't think so.

Finally, a few years back, my current partner and I launched Alliance Enterprises - with our first product (at least worth mentioning) the primary topic of this blog: www.CompareBook.com. Unlike nearly every company mentioned on Techcrunch, Compare Book has no outside venture capitalist to pay for fancy advertising, which would instantly projecting us to Web2.0 stardom. Instead, we have our measly operating budget, based entirely upon how much money we make. In essence, we are bootstrapping the entire operation.

Here goes.