Businessmen dream of seeing their name in lights
A few years ago, this guy, Travis Williams, graduated from Florida State University and went to work.
It’s a similar story for his buddy, Brian Harge, except he went to the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.
A few years from now, these two regular guys will both be rich and famous and gajillionaire benefactors to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, kind of like the co-founder of Nike, Phil Knight, and the University of Oregon.
Maybe.
What happens in between is the story.
"We’re focused," Harge said. "This business means a lot to us."
Let’s back up.
Williams, who is 32, used to play football at Florida State. Harge, 30, ran track in North Carolina. They’re both athletes.
After college, Williams worked in sales in Florida. He didn’t like it all that much.
He was young and single and the economy in Las Vegas was exploding, so he packed up his stuff and moved here.
He worked for a while, again in sales, then lost his job when the exploding economy imploded.
So, he went back to school. He enrolled in the master’s of business administration program at UNLV.
A big focus at UNLV’s business school is developing entrepreneurs.
Harge, meanwhile, was also working, also young and single. He moved to Vegas, too. The two guys met through a mutual friend. They hit it off, became good friends.
While Williams was unemployed, he often dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur. He read books on the subject. They always said to follow your passion.
His passion? Athletics. How could he make money from that? He wasn’t going to join the National Football League any time soon.
He was at a trade show a while ago, exploring things. He ran across this company that made illuminated T-shirts. Shirts with lights in them. The images were made of a flexible plastic. They had removable battery packs so you can wash the shirts. The lights flashed on and off with noise. Already a big hit at raves.
Boom.
It clicked.
Sports memorabilia T-shirts with light-up college team logos.
$gajillionaire.
Williams told his buddy Harge about it. Harge, who works in finance, had lots of good ideas. He helped tweak the numbers, made it seem like a viable business, not just a dream.
The duo plowed ahead. Researched everything they could think of. They came up with a business plan. They incorporated, became Sports Entertainment Gear.
They dreamed. Huge dreams. They could remake the whole college sports apparel market. They imagined entire stadiums, darkened, with everyone wearing their T-shirts.
The lighted shirts would all flash on and off together.
Soon, they’d expand. The NBA, NHL, NASCAR, the World Cup, the Olympics.
Mascots would be illuminated entirely in their company’s gear. There’d be bracelets and noisemakers, too.
All they’d need is a little publicity, and lots and lots of money.
They formed a team and entered business plan competitions through UNLV, which really got them to focus their idea. These competitions pit student teams against one another.
Harge signed up for a class, so he could learn more about being a businessman. The team did well in the competitions, placing in the top three in several of them. They even won a few thousand dollars.
They started selling the shirts — with a light-up UNLV over Hey Reb’s mug on the chest — at events related to UNLV basketball games. Alumni tailgate parties, stuff like that. They’re working on getting inside the Thomas & Mack Center, but there are current contracts the university has to honor.
"If we could be at the games, we could sell 5,000 shirts immediately," Williams said.
They’ve sold about 130 shirts so far. The shirts go for $37.50 on their website — www.segshirts.com — and $30 in person, if you find them. UNLV gets a portion of that money, as it does with all official gear.
In the end, though, a few thousand dollars in prize money, a good idea and enthusiasm are not enough.
They’re spending their own money now, traveling, meeting with potential investors, that sort of thing.
Janet Runge, the Global Entrepreneurship Experience coordinator at the university, is the team’s adviser.
She’s been advising student teams from UNLV for almost a decade. She’s enthusiastic about this team’s chances of success.
"They’re doers," she said. Not just dreamers.
But whether this particular team succeeds with this particular idea is beside the point.
She said the point really is that some of them will succeed. Some of them will learn. Some of them will run better businesses because of experiences like the one Williams and Harge are having right now.
"This is about how we contribute to diversifying the economy," she said. "How do we equip students to make a difference in the organizations they work for? And in the business they start for themselves."
As for Williams and Harge? They know they might not make it. They’re not blind.
But they believe they might make it, too. They believe they might actually be the next Phil Knight, that UNLV might be the next University of Oregon, that they might actually donate hundreds of millions of dollars to their old college, just like Knight has.
If that happens, they said, they’re going to sponsor their own business plan competition at the university. They’re going to inspire a whole new generation of business students, just like they were inspired.
"And if we make a billion dollars," said Williams, the former football player, "we’re going to build UNLV a stadium."
Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.
