TableXchange

Gabriel Erbst, 25, Will Geronimo, 26, and Dwight Lee, 25
www.tablexchange.com
New York, N.Y.

Then:
Co-founders Gabriel Erbst, Will Geronimo, and Dwight Lee launched an online exchange for high-end dinner reservations in New York, designed for professionals who might be willing to shell out around $20 to get a dinner table on short notice. TableXchange took a 12% cut from each user-to-user transaction and was hoping to expand beyond New York City. Erbst expected the business to be profitable by the end of 2007.

Now:
TableXchange has expanded to two additional major markets—Los Angeles and Chicago—and expects to launch in Las Vegas and Boston within the next several months, says Erbst. The business is now profitable, and raised the commission fee to 20% in January while rolling out ad campaigns across its Web site. All operations have been internally financed thus far, and Erbst expects 2009 revenue to fall in the $500,000 range. The restaurant industry's economic woes haven't affected TableXChange too badly, says Erbst. "The highest echelon restaurants are still always full," he says.