Small Biz

Bryan Sims, 24

Brass Media
Corvallis, Ore.

Six months into his freshman year at Oregon State, Bryan Sims' parents told him they had to file for bankruptcy. So Sims, who was on a scholarship, decided to drop out. His plan was to help his family by turning the magazine he had started (its mission was to make money relevant to young people) after graduating from high school into a profitable business. A few months after incorporating, he hired his father as chief operating officer. (Sims notes that he, not his father, is the founder and CEO, as well as majority shareholder.) The business broke even a year ahead of schedule and has been profitable since the beginning of 2006.

The magazine now has about 450,000 readers, and 33-employee Brass owns its own office building. Instead of selling subscriptions, it makes money (revenues are in the low millions) selling advertising to financial institutions. Advertisers provide the addresses of people they want to reach while Brass delivers magazines with only one institution's ads per sector. In practice, this means each institution can send a custom version of Brass to their own customers.

What's next for Sims? A recent conversation with a venture capitalist reminded him how much he's drawn to the pace of New York, though he recently bought a house near Brass's headquarters in Corvallis. What's next for Brass? Creating more vehicles to reach readers beyond the print magazine and Web site.