Cornell Business

Issue date: 4/14/08 Section: Features

At the time, Netflix was growing fast and getting strong in the video delivery business. So, Dacey began formulating his localized answer to the Silicon Valley up-and-comer. The differentiator? Where Netflix could deliver a movie in between one and three days, One Click Video averaged about eight minutes. Syracuse students would go online and order their movies, usually for about $4.99 per title, and Dacey or his partner would deliver them immediately. Think pizza delivery without phones, or ovens.

Of course, starting One Click Video was going to take some serious start-up capital, and Dacey was busily formulating his next move as he headed into winter break at the end of 2002. One thing he wasn't ready for was the tragedy that struck during the break - his mother, who had been suffering from ovarian cancer for several years, died from the illness. Shocked and overwhelmed, Matt took the spring semester off from Syracuse. But instead of dwelling in his grief, he says he poured all his emotion into writing the business plan for One Click Video. "You can either sulk or focus on something, and researching and writing the business plan was all I did," says Dacey.

By Fall, he was back at school and running the business from his room. To fund the enterprise, Dacey got a loan from his toughest uncle, who asked a lot of questions that helped prove the business model. With the money, Dacey and his partner bought thousands of DVDs and built a Web site. With a miniscule marketing budget, the business got itself afloat by putting flyers under every one of the 10,500 undergraduates' door on campus. Within 18 months, One Click Video had signed up 40% of students, and the company grossed between $30,000 and $40,000 in its first full year.

In the second year, One Click Video won the business plan contest at Syracuse and $25000, which allowed Dacey to pay off a chunk of the outstanding loan to his uncle. Around that time, he was also named Entrepreneur of the Year at Syracuse University and for all of New York State.

Continued...

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