Business time

These are the crafty hands of "60 percent junior, 40% sophomore" Mike Land, 27, majoring in entrepreneurial business, and boy, was he ever. At 6:00 p.m. on a Friday night, the 27th of February to be exact, Mike was stalled in Brownstones waiting for a document from his business partner, who was divesting interest in their latest start-up LLC.

He waits "either for 5 minutes or 15 minutes," he said, before 45 more minutes actually passed, and explains what eager, risk-taking adventures landed him here at DePaul. This seeming inaction was very much Mike in action. He wants all to know, "I don't make [much]; it's not as lucrative as it may appear."


Juggling real-life negotiations with a Jewish Experiences paper he must write, he's on hinge over a phone call from his partner. Mike explains the provisional patent they wrote for a mobile-based idea but it fell short without a $75,000 investor. Five guys spent six months nailing hammers into this deal, even sourcing an Indian manufacturer who'd quoted manageable development costs.



The deal is falling apart, and it's not the first time. Mike dove into the business world out of two years schoolin' prepping for the study of Oriental medicine, but he booked it into the business world with a partner he met a few years back.

"It's not so bad," Mike said, remembering his first two business launches. "The first ended in a police sting, and the second, I'm suing the guy." Much ado for a student who is still cranking out college papers amongst the other Brownstones dwellers, DePaul students trying to make a dent in the world. Mike said that now during the shaken economy is the best time for innovative products to hit the market. And with that, he will recycle his LLC into an "e-" service. He thinks this one will be lucky number four.