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For Lucinda Holt, starting a new company
is less like business and more like art. "My mother
was a pianist, and my father was a painter," says the
serial entrepreneur. "It may seem like I came from far
afield, but starting a business is an extremely creative
process. Instead of music or paint, I work with capital and
people."
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| Serial entrepreneur Lucinda
Holt thanks Ben Franklin Technology Partners
for helping lay the groundwork for her success. "They
have a structured process that really works for first-timers,"
she says. "They provide the support that can get
you to the next level if you can take advantage of
it." |
Presently CEO of Commerce360 and
founder and chairman of Cuts,
Inc., Holt has been a
successful entrepreneur since 1996. Her first experience
leading a company was as CEO of Destiny Software, which
was funded by Ben Franklin Technology Partners. "Ben
Franklin essentially taught me how the startup process
works," she says.
After Destiny was liquidated shortly after 9/11, Ben Franklin
saw something in Holt and her next venture TurnTide, an
anti-spam technology company. The results were much better:
She sold the company to Symantec for $28 million in only
six months. "Ben Franklin gave me my training wheels
when I really needed them. It paid off with TurnTide."
Navigating a “White-Hot” Market
Holt's current companies are both in what she calls "white-hot
markets." Commerce360 is an online marketing company
whose core target market is mid-market "hybrid" companies
that have both online and offline components. "We
have an experienced team of 14 people in place, and the
goal is to grow Commerce360 quickly and take advantage
of the marketplace," she says.
“Ben Franklin gave me my training wheels when
I really needed them. It paid off.”
—LUCINDA
HOLT, SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR
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Her other company, Cuts, Inc., which is still in development,
provides a legal way to edit and share copyrighted video,
something she says no other company is doing.
"This is an extremely hot market right now, especially
with the recent YouTube acquisition by Google," Holt
says. "Cuts is a very different model; whereas with
Commerce360, we grow client by client, when we launch Cuts
early next year, we will get thousands of users all at once.
Then it will be off to the races," she says.
The Right Support at the Right Time
Holt thanks Ben Franklin for helping lay the groundwork
for her success. "They have a structured process
that really works for first-timers. They provide the
support that can get you to the next level if you can
take advantage of it."
Holt says only time will tell how high she'll climb or
how many businesses she'll start. "I love building
the team, working with the team to realize a vision and
working with investors. I like every aspect of startups," she
says. "And I'm sort of stupidly competitive—I like
to win in the end, which is a good attribute to have." |
