Local entrepreneur Nat Turner hopes to
cash in on the popularity of retail gift cards with the recent launch
of CertificateSwap.com, a
Web site that allows consumers to buy, sell or exchange gift
certificates at a discounted rate.
Turner has been so busy with the start-up
that it has probably been challenging to keep up with his day job --
attending high school.
Turner, who turned 18 on Feb. 8, is a
senior at the Academy of Science and Technology at Oak Ridge High
School in The Woodlands.
Turner has been involved in the business
world for half of his young life. During that time he has launched some
10 companies, three of which are currently in operation. Those include
CertificateSwap; Novotrix, a Web design company; and The Ball Python
Co., which breeds and sells exotic snakes.
CertificateSwap launched on Dec. 15 --
the same day Turner found out he was accepted to the Wharton School of
Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
"It was a good day," says Turner, who on
Jan. 26 was named Texas Youth Entrepreneur of the Year by Texas
Christian University.
Turner is a 50-50 owner of
CertificateSwap with CEO Cameron Johnson, who came up with the original
idea and brought Turner in on the project. The company is based in
Roanoke, Va., where Johnson lives.
Johnson, 19, attends Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va. He, too, has launched
quite a few companies since starting elementary school.
The two entrepreneurs hit it off
immediately because they have so much in common. They get along and
work well together -- all despite the fact that they've never met
face-to-face.
The two were "introduced" by people
connected to an annual event they each attended, albeit at different
times. Johnson was the keynote speaker at the National Youth Leadership
Forum for Technology in 2002, and Turner was a featured speaker at the
same event in 2003.
The young entrepreneurs may soon be
in the same room at the same time so they can sign together on a dotted
line. They are actively looking for venture capital funding, and
recently sent their business plan to a dozen venture capital firms.
"A lot of them seem interested,"
Turner says. "A couple want to meet us."
CertificateSwap, which currently
has about 400 gift cards for sale, has already had thousands of users
and sales, Turner says.
Roughly 12 percent of gift
certificates are never redeemed, says Turner, which means there are a
lot of unwanted gift cards floating around that could be swapped or
sold. CertificateSwap is in good company chasing those dollars,
considering eBay also has a marketplace for the multibillion-dollar
gift certificate industry.
"People are wanting to get rid of
them," says Turner, noting that sellers on his site then have the
opportunity to buy the gift certificate of their choice.
Turner does not disclose revenue
information, a lesson he says he learned by age 12, but plenty of folks
are asking.
Turner says he and Johnson have
done 50 television and radio interviews about CertificateSwap. And he
says the company has been featured in USA Today, Time Magazine, the New
York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Tech notes
Houston-based Input/Output Inc.
announced this week it has acquired Scotland-based Concept Systems, a
software company specializing in seismic services.
Input/Output paid $36 million in
cash and 1.68 million shares of common stock for Concept Systems.
Input/Output's shares closed at $6.54 on the New York Stock Exchange on
Feb. 24, the day the transaction closed.
Input/Output provides seismic
equipment and acquisition imaging technology for land, marine and
seabed applications. The company also offers specialty seismic
processing services that allow oil companies to capture images of
subsurface features in petroleum reservoirs.
Concept Systems provides complex
integrated planning, navigation and data management solutions to
seismic contractors that are acquiring 2D, 3D and 4D data. The
company's software is installed on the majority of towed streamer
vessels worldwide and has become an integral part of redeployable and
permanent seabed acquisition systems, according to Input/Output.
Concept Systems, which is expected to
generate $16 million to $18 million in 2004 revenue, is also in the
final stages of developing an integrated software data management
system for land seismic acquisition.
Bob Peebler, Input/Output's president and
CEO, says the synergies between the two companies are compelling across
all product lines. Concept Systems is expected to help Input/Output
decrease logistics costs and shorten cycle times in field operations.
Alistair Hay, Concept Systems' managing
director, says the combined company will help clients find more oil and
gas through a unique solution that will change the way seismic data is
acquired, managed and processed.
Certain key employees of Concept Systems,
which was founded 20 years ago, received employment inducement stock
option agreements totaling 365,000 shares of common stock to join
Input/Output.
