James Harkins, an entrepreneur with a proven track record, has formed a new start-up company that needs financial backing.

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ITCH ­ JAMES HARKINS'S PERSPECTIVE:

In October 1999, timed with the national launch of the Palm VII organizer, mammoth online retailer Amazon.com announced a revolutionary new way for customers to shop. No longer were Amazon shoppers bound to their desktop computers. Called Amazon.com Anywhere, the new e-commerce service allowed customers access to the retailer from anywhere. With a Palm organizer and an application available as a free download, customers could use the same product searching and one-click purchasing that they previously enjoyed only at their wired workstations.

Amazon.com was able to expand its wireless capabilities by acquiring Convergence Corporation, the brainchild of James A. Harkins III, MBA '91. Convergence specialized in creating software that provided Internet access for a variety of information appliances. In 1999, Harkins relocated Convergence's Atlanta office to Seattle to direct the Amazon.com Anywhere group.

Harkins, a member of the Board of Advisors of the Robinson College, is a veteran of high-technology start-up firms. He served as sales manager at Electronic System Products Inc., the engineering subsidiary of Antec Corporation and developer of the "Zing Box," the first interactive set-top appliance system. At American Megatrends Inc., a leading computer hardware and software company, he was the program manager of scalable servers and the international marketing manager of Southeast Asia ­ Singapore. He next joined SystemSoft to lead initial marketing and business development in non-PC appliances and embedded systems.

Located in Natick, Mass., the start-up company SystemSoft developed the technology and software for PC card slots. Microsoft licensed the company's technology, it went public, and in three and a half years, SystemSoft grew from 60 to 400 employees. "From the passenger seat, I saw how to create a technology company," said Harkins. "In 1996, I decided to try my own hand at it and started Convergence in Atlanta."

STARTING UP SEANTA

After a year as director of Amazon.com Anywhere, Harkins again felt the entrepreneurial itch and began mentoring and investing in early-stage technology companies that were developing products and services for the mobile Internet. In 2001, he started a new company, Seanta, which specializes in creating drivers for mobile Internet users.

With his track record, investments of his own money and a team of talented wireless developers, Harkins anticipated the new company could be successful even in rough times. However, he wasn't counting on the events of September 11. "That knocked us for a loop," he said. "For a month, we weren't able to make even a phone call to talk to investors. The environment for most new start-ups is closed now. The joke these days in the venture capital community is to take the next year off."

Bucking that advice, Harkins is continuing to pursue his new company's vision. "We have a handful of seasoned, bright guys who have been around the mobile Internet block," he said. "We have a business plan and strategy, past success and working capital, so we'll survive in a skeletal form until things get better."

One of Harkins's strategies for Seanta hinges on the emerging company's relationship with Microsoft. "If you ride behind the big guys, enable them and stay out of their way, you'll have a successful business," he said. Microsoft's Seattle campus has the largest deployment of wireless-enabled employees in business, according to Harkins. An internal study by the company found that employees equipped with mobile Internet devices gained 71 minutes of productivity a day, an enhancement that adds value to the business as high as $10,000 per year per employee.

"From a productivity standpoint, using the mobile Internet is a no-brainer," Harkins said. "Enabling employees to work on a wireless LAN without having to physically wire is the way of the future. Bank of America, GM and Intel are all pursuing this avenue. We hope to provide them with products that make access easy and secure."

Harkins predicts that as corporate America rolls out this technology, users will take it home. "The mobile Internet may not become as pervasive as cell phones, but it has a large role to play," he notes. Some of the possible applications include streaming media, streaming audio and video conferencing.

At the Robinson College of Business, Harkins is interested in bringing the wireless movement to campus. He is working with the administration to develop a program for technology ambassadors. "I want to help students and faculty search out and go for their dreams," Harkins said. "In sharing my experiences, I've encouraged students to go out and make things happen. I tell them it's okay to fail. It's normal to run into walls. You're not pushing the envelope if you don't.

"The technology landscape is littered with crazy bets of the last three years, but that shouldn't discourage the next generation of entrepreneurs. There is still room for new, innovative start-ups to make an impact and be successful."

Harkins is following his own advice. Despite the current discouraging business climate for technology start-up companies, he is continuing to develop Seanta and to search for investors. "Success in technology has as much to with timing and luck as the technology itself," he said. When the timing is right, Harkins will be ready.

Rhonda Mullen