A l u m n i M a g a z i n e - Duke University's Fuqua School of Business

FUQUA
Alumni Profile Brian Hamilton ’90
Steve Barimo ‘95
“Landing those first few credible
clients is crucial ... when your business
is young, it’s much more difficult and
you need help. That’s where the real
value lies in alumni networks.”
FUQUA ALUMNI
By D e b b i e S e l i n s k y
Brian Hamilton, ’90, learned a lot as an
MBA student at The Fuqua School of
Business. But, years later, he admits to
being a little surprised that the same
people who seemed so competitive in
school are now rallying around his
young business, providing important
introductions and product testing, information
about new markets and just plain
old-fashioned advice.
“People have been incredibly generous—it’s
a loyalty thing and a real tribute
to Fuqua,” says Hamilton, CEO of
SAGEWorks Inc., a Research Triangle
Park, N.C.-based company that has
developed an Internet-based artificial
intelligence technology.
The two-year-old company’s claim to
fame is ProfitCents, which Hamilton and
company president Steve Barimo, ‘95,
describe as “the first interactive software
application that can execute over the
Web.” So without installation or configuration,
small business owners can go to
the Web site (www.profitcents.com),
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F u q u a / W i n t e r 2 0 0 1
enter some basic financial data about
their companies and immediately receive
private customized financial analyses
(including the basic financial state of the
business, how it’s changed and how it
can be improved)—all for less than the
price of a business lunch.
The positive response to the “software
that thinks” has come as no surprise
to Hamilton, who, as a consultant
to mid-sized and small businesses, had
been constantly surprised by how little
CEOs and owners—even sharp CEOs
and owners—knew about their bottom
line. “Many non-financial managers
have no idea how to read financial statements,”
he says. “They know if they’re
in the red or the black, but they don’t
realize that there’s a lot more information
in that report, much of which
reveals potential problems and ways to
address them.” Before starting
SAGEWorks, Hamilton served as CFO of
a pharmaceutical research organization.
Even top executives of that company
had difficulty understanding the company’s
financial statements. Thus, the idea
for ProfitCents was born.
What has been especially exciting for
SAGEWorks, which counts Fuqua alumni
among its investors – Jonathan Roth,
‘90, and its directors – John Sharman,
’90, and Paul Kasinski, ‘94, who also
developed the Application Software
Provider (ASP) delivery mode, is the way
in which big corporations are recognizing
how they can use ProfitCents as a CRM
(Customer Relationship Management)
tool and value-added service for their
small business customers.
“ProfitCents is cool technology,”
Hamilton says. “We’re proud of it, but
we’re also trying to bridge a gap. The
Internet is efficient in providing content
and reference materials. But what it
can’t do so far and what we’re providing
are customized products and services.
So rather than just getting financial
textbook entries, you can put your
numbers into the system and get the