From Kajeet
Daniel Neal figured he was onto something when his four-year-old daughter mastered his cell phone. He liked the idea that as Eleanor grew older, he would have an easy and spontaneous way to keep in touch with her. But as he watched mobile computing becoming cheaper, more ubiquitous and more powerful, he, like every parent, was concerned about how his daughter would negotiate this brave new world. Would she be safe? Would she become a texting addict at the expense of her studies and the family budget?
As CEO of VCampus, an e-learning company, Neal spent a lot of time on the road and saw what wireless services for kids were available in other countries. Most offered a dumbed-down version of an adult phone. "It occurred to me how smart my kids were and how they were not going to be satisfied with four-button baby phones. Kids can use BlackBerrys better than many adults. I decided there would be a very big market for a mobile services company built from a kid's point of view."
Neal quit his job in 2003 and, with two friends who were also dads -- Matt Baker and Ben Weintraub -- started Kajeet. The name is an acronym from the first initials of their kids' names: Kevin, Alexander, Joey, Eleanor, Eleanor and Tom.
It took two years before Kajeet secured venture capital funding. During that time, the founders tinkered with the technology and obsessively studied the market. They were confident they had the technological prowess to build a cell phone that would appeal to kids but offer parents the controls they wanted.
Even chance encounters with kids turned into focus groups. Once, while in an airport, the partners flipped open their cell phones in preparation for a meeting. A group of tweens on a field trip were fascinated. "All these kids started asking us questions, and their chaperones and moms were expressing their concerns about texting and bills. One thing I've come to learn is that there are maybe only one or two children left in America who don't want a cell phone," says Neal.
Kajeet launched in March, and its subscriber list is growing fast. It's a full-featured phone with voice mail, games, Internet access, navigation services, and text, picture and instant messaging. Parents can set a "curfew" so kids can't chat and text during school, but in the event of an emergency, parent and child can always reach each other. Parents can also control who can call or text the phone (bullies can be blocked!) and turn features on or off via the Web at any time. The popular virtual wallet manager allows families to decide who pays for the calls home or to the best friends, and kids learn to budget their phone allowance. An added bonus: It's a pay-as-you-go service, so there are no fees or contracts.
Although Neal acknowledges that starting a company from scratch takes a lot of courage, one of the joys was that he could closely involve his family -- his wife, Heller An Shapiro, and his 8-year-old daughter, Eleanor, and 12-year-old son, Alex, who were his "window into the world of tweens."
Neal got a lot of encouragement from his father. "He was a very smart, inventive person, but he grew up during the Depression. I don't think he ever really overcame his fear of what would happen if he didn't have a steady job," Neal says. But as a result, "he helped me overcome that fear of what happens if you go out on a limb and stop getting a salary, stop getting health-care insurance, and just trust that you're going to be smart enough and work hard enough to overcome the obstacles of starting a business."
Founding Kajeet, says Neal, was about doing the right thing for kids and parents. "I've always thought about technology as a tool that will not only help make our kids more connected but also enable them to be more competitive as the world becomes more interlinked." The challenge going forward, he says, is "to figure out the best way to bring educational content and applications to this mobile platform in a way that excites kids about learning."
Getting Ahead with Daniel Neal
Are people born inventors?I do think there's something to that, but even born inventors set off to solve their own problems. It certainly was in my mind as I thought about my family. My wife and I both work, I'm traveling, and my kids are taking music and tae kwon do lessons and playing soccer. How are we all going to keep in touch?
What are the rules you live by?
I like to think that the best way to go through life is with a lot of intellectual humility. That and tolerance. It's about listening to other people's perspectives on problems and needs and being open to them, and being willing to change your point of view. I try not to be dogmatic about what I believe to be true.
Describe the employee who drives you crazy.
He dithers, unable to make a decision. And sometimes I do that myself!
What's the most important thing you've learned in business?
The importance of goodwill, that you build it as you go through your career. It's an accounting term, but I think of it as a catchall description for the kinds of good feelings and trust and people's willingness to give you the benefit of the doubt or give you some help, just because maybe you've helped them in the past. I take very personally all my interactions with people throughout my life.
You're really busy. How do you handle stress?
I'm an introvert, and if you know anything about introverts, we like to crawl off into a cave, so to speak, and recharge our batteries. People at work, however, think I'm an extrovert. I can get in front of a group and talk and show a lot of energy. But to recharge my batteries and handle my stress, I have to get some time to myself, so I'll ride my bike, run or read a book.
What makes a great boss?
They have more experience than their employees, and they're willing to share it. And they're also willing to give them some room to try new things.
How often do you check your BlackBerry?
I don't use a BlackBerry! I use a Kajeet. And it's probably not out of my hand more than five minutes at a stretch.