Matt Lauzon and Jason Reuben
Paragon Lake
www.paragonlake.com
Beverly Hills, Calif.
Ages: 21
Matt Lauzon and Jason Reuben want to revolutionize the custom jewelry business. Paragon Lake, their Beverly Hills-based online store, offers shoppers the ability to customize pieces of jewelry that are delivered with little wait time—because as soon as an order is placed, the company's Los Angeles facility is alerted to assign a jeweler to begin handcrafting it using a three-dimensional computer drawing. Lauzon notes that the company only buys materials on an as-needed basis from suppliers located nearby. Lauzon and Reuben raised $200,000 for their venture through an angel investor, with the option of another $500,000 from the same investor provided they hit growth targets. They are so far more interested in enhancing their existing technology and are conserving funds by bootstrapping.
Paragon launched in August, 2006, but Lauzon and Reuben already project $3 million in revenues by August, 2007. The two Babson seniors aren't stopping there. They're planning to use their existing technology to help independent retail stores streamline their manufacturing processes, starting in March. The advantage for the shops? Baubles will arrive in the customer’s mailbox within a few days, as opposed to the weeks or months it can take when a store does its own production.
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