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“It’s like building a jet engine in flight.”-Ron Wiener, CEO Earth Class Mail™
START-UP JUNKIES TO PREMIERE ON MOJO HD JANUARY 24
Serial Entrepreneurs “Start-Up” Yet Another Business in This Intimate Eight-Part Reality Series about the Intense Process of Launching a Successful Company
New York, Jan. 4, 2008 - It’s a fact. Nine out of 10 new businesses will ultimately fail. On Start-Up Junkies, MOJO HD’s newest hi-def financial series, an all-star team of serial entrepreneurs is determined to beat the odds. Start-Up Junkies airs Thursday nights beginning January 24 at 10:00pm, ET/PT. The series is also part of a new programming block every Thursday entitled MOJO Money Night, partnered with two original MOJO HD series about financial investors and venture capitalists; Wall Street Warriors and Bobby G: Adventure Capitalist.For some entrepreneurs, there’s no greater high than launching a new company and nurturing it through all stages of development. Over the course of eight half-hour episodes,MOJO HD follows a group of these passion-motivated “addicts” in this compelling personality-driven series that demonstrates the highs and lows of getting an organization off the ground with the ultimate goal of selling it for a ridiculous amount of money.
Start-Up Junkies, filmed over a nine-month period, focuses on the recently established Seattle-based company Earth Class Mail™, a global service that delivers postal mail online, much like an electronic post office box. The service is especially useful for people who travel extensively, whether they’re military personnel, RV users or corporate executives. This start-up has generated so much buzz in the venture capital world that it attracted the largest venture capital fund in the Pacific Northwest to invest and broke the all-time record for raising money from the world’s largest group of “angel” investors. The players immersed in the company’s development include charismatic founder and CEO Ron Wiener, who launched five previous start-ups, loves to fly planes and unabashedly declares the company’s goal of “redefining the trillion-dollar postal industry, collectively the largest employer in the world.”
Among those profiled in the series include several of Wiener’s co-workers who are also experienced “Start-Up Junkies.” Natalee, the Chief Marketing Officer, helps Earth Class Mail establish a world-class brand worthy of its mission, and is so dedicated that after she is injured in a fender-bender, she continues to work from her couch. Paul, Chief Engineer and accomplished guitarist, seeks a balance between work and music and pushes his staff to the limit. Nate, the Senior Sales Engineer and prospective father, believes the company will potentially make him rich but complains about having to work with limited resources and difficult bosses. Viewers will witness the triumphs and stumbles the “junkies” encounter. The Chief Marketing Officer at one point is unable to log onto the customer website during an investor presentation. Three employees attempt guerilla marketing tactics at an RV Show, but their ploy backfires when they get caught. The CEO reluctantly has to sell his 10,000-square-foot home and personal aircraft, and move into a rental home, to fund the early stages. Start-Up Junkies looks at raising money, hiring employees and dealing with demanding clients, all while contending with monumental technological issues and business hurdles. These driven personalities have proven themselves before. Will they be able to pull off another success with Earth Class Mail?
Start-Up Junkies is produced by Screaming Flea Productions. Pat Barnes is Executive Producer. Emilio Nunez is Executive Producer for MOJO HD and Siobhan Graham is Supervising Producer.
About MOJO HD (www.mojohd.com)
MOJO HD was created exclusively for the discerning upscale male, with attitude, wit and style, and is among the most widely distributed HD networks on cable. The company has been a pioneer in hi-def television since 2003. Original shows are about wide-ranging men’s interests including high tech, finance, comedy-reality, adventurous travel, music, cuisine and spirits. Other programming includes high profile professional and college sports, movies, concerts, big events and is the exclusive HD cable home of “Heroes.” The network is 100% high definition, all shown in pristine 1080i picture and 5.1 sound and is available as part of the HD offerings from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Cablevision, Charter Communications Inc., Bright House Networks, Mediacom and others. MOJO HD is owned by iN DEMAND Networks, whose members are Comcast iN DEMAND Holdings, Inc., Cox Communications Holdings, Inc., and Time Warner Entertainment - Advance/Newhouse Partnership.
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