姐弟創(chuàng)業(yè)傳奇

阿琳和埃里克•戴維奇姐弟都是音樂(lè)學(xué)院的學(xué)生，一個(gè)專攻聲樂(lè)，一個(gè)夢(mèng)想成為職業(yè)的音樂(lè)人。然而，機(jī)緣巧合，兩人最終都踏上了創(chuàng)業(yè)的道路。姐姐成了低收入人群的理財(cái)導(dǎo)師，弟弟則用另外一種方式成就了自己的音樂(lè)夢(mèng)想。

《財(cái)富》雜志撰稿人貝絲•科維特忙里偷閑，為鮑登學(xué)院的校友刊物《鮑登雜志》( Bowdoin Magazine)撰寫了一篇人物特寫，主人公是一對(duì)同在紐約創(chuàng)業(yè)的姐弟。與阿琳和埃里克•戴維奇姐弟一樣，作者也畢業(yè)于這家位于緬因州布倫瑞克市的文理學(xué)院。本文源自2013年秋季號(hào)的《鮑登雜志》，未作任何刪改。     同樣畢業(yè)于鮑登學(xué)院的《財(cái)富》雜志總編輯蘇安迪為同一期雜志撰寫了一篇關(guān)于舊金山市長(zhǎng)李孟賢的報(bào)道。     對(duì)于戴維奇姐弟來(lái)說(shuō)，創(chuàng)業(yè)實(shí)屬偶然。在鮑登學(xué)院(Bowdoin)，兩人學(xué)的都是音樂(lè)專業(yè)，從來(lái)沒(méi)有上過(guò)經(jīng)濟(jì)類課程。然而，盡管他們?cè)诟髯怨�司的�?chuàng)建歷程中都遵循同一條路徑，最終卻抵達(dá)了迥然不同的目標(biāo)。     由于家中有兩位創(chuàng)業(yè)者，戴維奇一家人的家庭聚會(huì)有時(shí)候更像是商務(wù)會(huì)議。今年母親節(jié)那天，吃過(guò)早午餐后，埃里克在一旁演練即將給他的父母和姐姐阿琳展示的產(chǎn)品介紹。最近一次冬季滑雪之旅期間，一家人在科羅拉多州住宅的餐桌周圍搭建起了一個(gè)臨時(shí)辦公室，其實(shí)就是一堆雜亂無(wú)章的筆記本電腦、iPhone手機(jī)和iPad。     決定創(chuàng)業(yè)那一瞬間，這種全天候工作狀況就成了阿琳和埃里克主動(dòng)選擇的生活方式。阿琳在曼哈頓創(chuàng)辦了PayPerks公司。這是一家培養(yǎng)中低收入消費(fèi)者理財(cái)能力、同時(shí)給予他們獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)的平臺(tái)。阿琳親自出任CEO。在東河對(duì)岸的皇后區(qū)長(zhǎng)島市，埃里克在他參與創(chuàng)建的Songza公司擔(dān)任首席內(nèi)容官，提供經(jīng)過(guò)策劃的流媒體音樂(lè)服務(wù)。     兩人是在新澤西州蘭多夫市長(zhǎng)大的，白手起家的父母早早就鼓勵(lì)孩子們要敢于開(kāi)創(chuàng)一番事業(yè)。“他們給我們灌輸了一種觀點(diǎn)，就是說(shuō)，變化是不可避免的，”阿琳說(shuō)。“所以說(shuō)，那些最靈活的人往往能夠收獲最大的成功。”爸爸開(kāi)了一家牙科診所，媽媽幫助他打理經(jīng)營(yíng)事務(wù)，同時(shí)不斷地引進(jìn)最先進(jìn)的設(shè)備。在他們居住的那個(gè)社區(qū)內(nèi)，他們一直是最精通電腦的家長(zhǎng)。     然而，戴維奇姐弟走上創(chuàng)業(yè)之路實(shí)屬偶然。在鮑登學(xué)院，兩人學(xué)的都是音樂(lè)專業(yè)，從來(lái)都沒(méi)有上過(guò)經(jīng)濟(jì)類課程。然而，盡管他們?cè)诟髯怨�司的�?chuàng)建歷程中遵循同樣一條路徑，最終卻邁向了迥然不同的目標(biāo)。于埃里克而言，Songza是一種不必經(jīng)歷潦倒的音樂(lè)人生活，也是一個(gè)能影響音樂(lè)界的途徑。另一方面，通過(guò)創(chuàng)辦自己的公司，阿琳發(fā)現(xiàn)她有能力創(chuàng)造一種新事物，同時(shí)自己做自己職業(yè)生涯的主人。姐弟倆的行業(yè)或許沒(méi)有重疊，但他們身處同一個(gè)創(chuàng)業(yè)世界。正是這樣一種巧合，促使他們不斷比較、分享各自跌宕起伏的創(chuàng)業(yè)感悟。     早在14歲時(shí)，埃里克•戴維奇就展現(xiàn)出了正處于萌芽狀態(tài)的創(chuàng)業(yè)潛質(zhì)。他擁有一個(gè)雄心勃勃的職業(yè)理想——他要成為一位搖滾明星。所以，他死纏爛打地懇求父母給他購(gòu)買了一套錄音設(shè)備。他隨后制作了一張光盤，還成功地在學(xué)校餐廳把它賣了出去。     埃里克把這種商業(yè)頭腦帶到了鮑登學(xué)院。他在這所大學(xué)攻讀音樂(lè)專業(yè)期間竭盡全力，盡可能多地吸收行業(yè)相關(guān)知識(shí)。“我一直在努力學(xué)習(xí)音樂(lè)產(chǎn)業(yè)的方方面面，因?yàn)槲耶?dāng)時(shí)真的認(rèn)為我能夠建立一個(gè)音樂(lè)王國(guó)，”他說(shuō)。正是在這種理想的驅(qū)使下，他先后在《公告牌》雜志(Billboard )和大西洋唱片公司( Atlantic Records)當(dāng)實(shí)習(xí)生，還在大四那年參與了一個(gè)被他視為首次創(chuàng)業(yè)經(jīng)歷的畢業(yè)生榮譽(yù)項(xiàng)目——為一個(gè)40人的樂(lè)團(tuán)作曲，同時(shí)負(fù)責(zé)料理制作這個(gè)曲目的后勤工作。

Beth Kowitt took a break from her day job as a writer at Fortune to profile Arlyn and Eric Davich, siblings who both work in the New York City startup scene, for Bowdoin Magazine, Bowdoin College's alumni publication. The Davich siblings and Kowitt are all graduates of the Brunswick, Maine-based liberal arts school. The following is the entirety of the story from Bowdoin Magazine's Fall 2013 issue.     Fortune managing editor (and fellow Bowdoin graduate) Andy Serwer wrote about San Francisco mayor Ed Lee for the same issue.     At Bowdoin, Arlyn Davich and her brother Eric were music majors who never took an economics course. Yet, in founding their own companies, they've followed a common route to take them toward very different goals.     With two entrepreneurs in the family, get-togethers at the Davich household can sometimes resemble business meetings. Mother's Day this year involved a post-brunch session of Eric rehearsing an upcoming presentation in front of his parents and sister, Arlyn. During a recent winter ski trip, the family set up an ad-hoc office around the kitchen table of their Colorado home -- a mishmash of dueling laptops, iPhones, and iPads.     Being "on" 24/7 is part of the life that Arlyn and Eric signed up for when they decided to build their careers in startups. Arlyn is founder and CEO of Manhattan-based PayPerks, a financial capability and rewards platform for low- and middle-income consumers. Across the East River in Long Island City, Queens, Eric works as chief content officer for Songza, a company he co-founded that offers a streaming music service of curated playlists.     The two grew up in Randolph, New Jersey, with parents who were themselves entrepreneurial and encouraged the same spirit in their kids. "They instilled in us this idea that change is inevitable," Arlyn says, "so the people who are the most flexible are the people who are going to be the most successful." Their mom runs the business side of their dad's dental practice, which has consistently had the most up-to-date equipment. They were always the most computer-savvy parents on the block.     But entrepreneurship was accidental for the Davich siblings. At Bowdoin they were music majors, who never took an economics course. Yet, in founding their own companies, they've followed a common route to take them toward very different goals. For Eric, Songza was a way to impact the music industry without living the life of a struggling artist. By starting her own company, Arlyn discovered she could create something and take control of her own career. Their industries may not overlap, but they share that same startup world -- a coincidence that keeps them comparing notes on a professional existence that can be punctuated with extreme highs and extreme lows.     Even at age fourteen, Eric Davich exhibited the early signs of a budding entrepreneur. He had ambitious career aspirations -- he wanted to be a rock star -- so he finagled his parents into buying him recording equipment, made a CD, and sold it in the school cafeteria.     Eric carried that business savvy to Bowdoin where as a music major he absorbed as much as he could about the industry. "I was always trying to learn every part of the business because I really thought I could make my own music empire," he says. That meant internships at Billboardmagazine and Atlantic Records, along with a senior year honors project that he views as his first startup -- writing a composition for a forty-person ensemble and handling the logistics of producing it.

2006年從鮑登學(xué)院畢業(yè)的當(dāng)天，埃里克就收拾行囊，去紐約市追尋自己的專業(yè)音樂(lè)人夢(mèng)想。爾后的經(jīng)歷一點(diǎn)也不浪漫。他的樂(lè)隊(duì)“小澳大利亞”(Little Australia)很難獲得登臺(tái)演出的機(jī)會(huì)——埃里克能夠演奏多種樂(lè)器，但主要擔(dān)任吉他手。為了更深入地了解一支樂(lè)隊(duì)如何才能獲得簽約機(jī)會(huì)，他最終在一家唱片公司找了一份差事。但這份工作帶給他最大的感悟是，原來(lái)音樂(lè)人和唱片公司的前景竟然如此不堪！“在那家公司，所有員工每天都是一副惶惶不可終日的樣子，因?yàn)樗麄冸S時(shí)都有可能丟掉飯碗。”正是姐姐的一個(gè)問(wèn)題幫助他理清了思路。阿琳問(wèn)，他為什么打算進(jìn)入一個(gè)日漸萎縮的行業(yè)，而不是進(jìn)入一家蒸蒸日上的企業(yè)、成為它的一份子呢？     演出間歇期似乎一眼望不到盡頭的“小澳大利亞”樂(lè)隊(duì)一直向一家名為艾米街( Amie Street)的動(dòng)態(tài)定價(jià)網(wǎng)站上傳自己的音樂(lè)。所謂動(dòng)態(tài)定價(jià)意指，越受歡迎的歌曲定價(jià)越高。埃里克向這家網(wǎng)站的創(chuàng)始人發(fā)送了一封主題為“我想為你工作”的電子郵件。他的大膽終于獲得了回報(bào)：2007年，他得到了一份工作。“我認(rèn)為這是一個(gè)涉足網(wǎng)絡(luò)音樂(lè)，獲取經(jīng)驗(yàn)的機(jī)會(huì)，”他說(shuō)。“我還能賺點(diǎn)錢，也就不必?fù)?dān)心成為一位落魄的音樂(lè)人。”一如他此前的經(jīng)歷，在這家初創(chuàng)公司，他幾乎什么都干。     2008年，艾米街收購(gòu)了Songza。按照埃里克的描述，Songza這家網(wǎng)站最初提供一種類似于谷歌(Google)的音樂(lè)搜索服務(wù)——輸入一首歌曲的名稱，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)幫你找到它，尋找的渠道通常是YouTube。透過(guò)Songza，埃里克和他的合作伙伴發(fā)現(xiàn)了流媒體音樂(lè)的發(fā)展?jié)摿Γ核�讓用戶馬上就能聆聽(tīng)到音樂(lè)，而不必把歌曲下載至硬盤里。這支團(tuán)隊(duì)決定把艾米街出售給亞馬遜公司(Amazon)，這樣他們就能夠全身心地經(jīng)營(yíng)Songza。很快，Songza就演變?yōu)橐恍┙?jīng)過(guò)深度編輯策劃、以20首歌曲為一組的播放列表，每組播放列表都有一個(gè)主題。比如，《90年代一曲成名傳奇》(90s One-hit Wonders)或者《熟男催淚金曲》(Grown Men Making Grown Men Cry)。     通過(guò)客戶調(diào)查，埃里克和其他創(chuàng)始人意識(shí)到，這年頭，沒(méi)有人認(rèn)為音樂(lè)是一種產(chǎn)品。埃里克說(shuō)：“人們聽(tīng)音樂(lè)是為了放松心情，以便更好地完成手頭的工作，”讓音樂(lè)陪伴他們渡過(guò)乏味的工作時(shí)間。這支團(tuán)隊(duì)決定把Songza定位為一種幫助用戶增加生活情趣的服務(wù)，而不是一個(gè)音樂(lè)發(fā)現(xiàn)產(chǎn)品。感到焦慮不安？請(qǐng)打開(kāi)《60年代原型朋克勁爆歌曲集》('60s Proto-Punk Blastoff)。正在戶外燒烤？何不試試《與天王一起野炊》(Cookout with the King)的感覺(jué)（對(duì)于那些試圖進(jìn)入你的轎車或健身房的廣告客戶來(lái)說(shuō)，融入這種背景也是頗具吸引力的）。這種看似簡(jiǎn)單的思維轉(zhuǎn)換引發(fā)了一些嚴(yán)肅的討論，以及投資者的關(guān)注。Songza的iPad和iPhone應(yīng)用于2012年6月進(jìn)入蘋果應(yīng)用商店，之后，它在10天內(nèi)就增加了100多萬(wàn)名客戶。     埃里克目前主要從事?tīng)I(yíng)銷和業(yè)務(wù)拓展工作。名義上，他是首席內(nèi)容官，但在這家擁有28位員工，正在迅速發(fā)展的公司中，他的職責(zé)經(jīng)常變化。盡管他現(xiàn)在并不是以一位全職吉他手的身份維持生活，但在某些方面，他其實(shí)已經(jīng)實(shí)現(xiàn)了當(dāng)一個(gè)音樂(lè)人的人生目標(biāo)。“我在鮑登學(xué)院做畢業(yè)生榮譽(yù)項(xiàng)目時(shí)，我的目標(biāo)是展示我學(xué)到的所有音樂(lè)流派知識(shí)，”他解釋說(shuō)。“如今，我采用一種使用起來(lái)非常方便，而且契合生活背景的方式，向人們展示所有不同類型的音樂(lè)。”現(xiàn)在，他謀求音樂(lè)事業(yè)有成的途徑不再是做音樂(lè)，而是創(chuàng)造性地生產(chǎn)更多音樂(lè)。他說(shuō)：“說(shuō)來(lái)也怪，我也正是在這個(gè)時(shí)候，開(kāi)始走向更大的成功。”     在鮑登學(xué)院上大三那年，阿琳•戴維奇曾經(jīng)遵照老師的要求，設(shè)想20年后的自己將身處何方。阿琳的專業(yè)是聲樂(lè)，但她并不認(rèn)為自己具備上好的音樂(lè)天賦。所以她回答說(shuō)，她打算創(chuàng)辦一家唱片公司。她認(rèn)為，擁有自己的企業(yè)可以讓她經(jīng)歷一段具有創(chuàng)造性的職業(yè)生涯。“這是創(chuàng)業(yè)最吸引我的地方，”她說(shuō)。“也正是這種夢(mèng)想最初驅(qū)使我進(jìn)入鮑登學(xué)院學(xué)音樂(lè)，但我其實(shí)并不具備實(shí)現(xiàn)這種創(chuàng)造力的才華。”     畢業(yè)后，經(jīng)鮑登學(xué)院的一位好友引薦，阿琳找到了一份公關(guān)工作。工作期間，她發(fā)現(xiàn)自己其實(shí)最喜歡跟小企業(yè)打交道，甚至有可能親自創(chuàng)辦一家小企業(yè)。2007年，她如愿進(jìn)入哥倫比亞大學(xué)( Columbia University)商學(xué)院，進(jìn)一步學(xué)習(xí)創(chuàng)業(yè)所需的定量分析技能。     在哥大求學(xué)期間，阿琳決定創(chuàng)辦一家企業(yè)，但她缺乏一個(gè)基本要素——一個(gè)好的創(chuàng)業(yè)點(diǎn)子。在一位教授的頭腦風(fēng)暴討論課上，阿琳提到了自己在公關(guān)公司的工作經(jīng)歷，說(shuō)自己非常喜歡與一家為人們的薪金支票提供優(yōu)惠券的公司合作。這位教授的反應(yīng)是，“哦，現(xiàn)在還有人領(lǐng)取紙質(zhì)的薪金支票嗎？”阿琳回憶說(shuō)，“正是這個(gè)問(wèn)題，引導(dǎo)我從事這門生意。”這次面談剛一結(jié)束，她就著手研究“沒(méi)有享受金融服務(wù)的人群”，即那些沒(méi)有銀行賬戶的人。這個(gè)市場(chǎng)的龐大程度讓她萬(wàn)分震驚。

The day Eric graduated from Bowdoin in 2006, he packed up and moved to New York City to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional musician. It was by no means glamorous. He struggled to break into the scene with his band, Little Australia. (He plays multiple instruments but is primarily a guitarist.) He got a job at a record label to better understand how bands get signed, but more than anything it helped him gauge how tough the prospects were for artists and record labels. "Everyone that worked there, they were just scared all the time," he says. "Any day they could lose their jobs." It was his sister that helped clarify his thinking: Why was he considering a shrinking industry, Arlyn asked, rather than joining a part of the business that was growing?     Little Australia, which is on an indefinite hiatus, had been uploading its music to Amie Street, a dynamically priced music site -- the more popular the song, the more expensive to buy it. Eric sent the founders an e-mail with the subject line "I want to work for you." His audacity paid off with a job in 2007. "I saw an opportunity to get my foot in the door and get some experience," he says, "and have some cash to work with so I didn't have to worry about becoming a deadbeat broke musician." Typical of life at a startup, Eric did a little bit of everything.     In 2008 Amie Street bought Songza, a service that in its original incarnation was what Eric describes as Google for music. Type in a song, and the Internet would find it, usually via YouTube. Through Songza, Eric and his partners saw the potential in streaming music: It gave users instant access to songs without having to download them to their hard drives. The team decided to sell Amie Street to Amazon so they could focus on Songza, which they evolved into hyper-editorialized twelve-song playlists, each with a theme (think "'90s One-hit Wonders" or "Grown Men Making Grown Men Cry").     Through customer research, Eric and his cofounders realized that nobody thinks of music as a product. "People listen to music to make what they're doing better," Eric says, to get through their run or day at work. The team decided to position Songza as a lifestyle enhancer rather than a music discovery product. Feeling angsty? Check out the "'60s Proto-Punk Blastoff" playlist. Barbecuing? Check out the songs in "Cookout with the King." (Having that context is also attractive to advertisers who want to reach you when you're in your car or at the gym.) That seemingly simple shift in thinking led to some serious buzz and investor attention. After Apple's App Store featured Songza's iPad and iPhone apps on the same day in June 2012, the company added more than a million new users in ten days.     These days Eric works mostly on marketing and business development. He's technically chief content officer, but at a fast-growing company with a staff of twenty-eight, his responsibilities change regularly. Despite the fact that he's not making a living playing his guitar full time, in some ways he's fulfilled his purpose as a musician. "When I did my honors project at Bowdoin, my goal was to showcase my knowledge of all of the genres of music I've learned about in school," he explains. "[Today] I get to expose people to all those different kinds of music in a way that's really easy and contextually relevant." Now that he's no longer trying to make a career out of making music, he's more productive creatively. "Oddly enough," he says, "that's when I started to become more successful."     During her junior year at Bowdoin, Arlyn Davich was given an assignment to envision where she saw herself in twenty years. She was a music major (she sings) but claims not to be the best musical talent, so she answered by saying she was going to start a record label. She thought that having her own business would allow her to have a career where she could create something. "That's what appeals to me about being an entrepreneur," she says. "It's what initially attracted me to music at Bowdoin, but I didn't have the talent to realize that creativity."     After graduating, Arlyn got a job in public relations through a Bowdoin connection. It helped her discover she liked working best with small businesses and could even start one herself. In 2007 she enrolled at Columbia University's business school to get the quantitative skills she needed to launch her own enterprise.     Arlyn was determined to start a business while at Columbia, but she was missing an essential ingredient -- a good idea. In brainstorming with a professor, she mentioned how much she liked working with a company during her PR days that put coupons in people's paychecks. The professor's reaction was, "People still get printed paychecks?" "It was the question that led me to this business," Arlyn says. After that meeting she started researching the "underbanked" -- people without bank accounts, and was shocked by how big a market it was.

當(dāng)時(shí)，預(yù)付借記卡還是一個(gè)新事物，并沒(méi)有被那些本可以從中獲取最大收益的人群充分利用。“營(yíng)銷任何一種產(chǎn)品的途徑，就是以一種頗具吸引力的方式，教育人民懂得使用它的好處，”她說(shuō)。“我當(dāng)時(shí)想，‘如果要為這個(gè)消費(fèi)群體創(chuàng)造一種令人愉悅的受教育體驗(yàn)，會(huì)是什么樣子呢？’這就是我試圖通過(guò)PayPerks解決的問(wèn)題。”她的解決方案是一個(gè)建立在抽獎(jiǎng)基礎(chǔ)上的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)計(jì)劃，具體來(lái)說(shuō)就是，通過(guò)激勵(lì)消費(fèi)者學(xué)習(xí)金融產(chǎn)品的好處，促使他們使用這些產(chǎn)品。     阿琳決定帶著這個(gè)創(chuàng)意去參加哥大的創(chuàng)業(yè)計(jì)劃競(jìng)賽。清晨一起跑步時(shí)，阿琳給弟弟試講了一遍她的PayPerks故事。阿琳很善于展示；對(duì)她來(lái)說(shuō)，這跟在鮑登學(xué)院時(shí)常進(jìn)行的演出排練沒(méi)什么兩樣。埃里克使用姐弟倆都心有靈犀的音樂(lè)術(shù)語(yǔ)，提了幾點(diǎn)反饋建議——強(qiáng)化節(jié)奏，開(kāi)始時(shí)氣息最好更柔和些。阿琳最終成為大賽的贏家，哥倫比亞大學(xué)隨即成為她的首位投資者。“那時(shí)，除了自己以外，我所擁有的就是一個(gè)PPT文檔，和一個(gè)夢(mèng)想，”她開(kāi)玩笑說(shuō)。她邀請(qǐng)一位擁有更多技術(shù)經(jīng)驗(yàn)的伙伴一起創(chuàng)業(yè)，還在創(chuàng)業(yè)的第一年就成功說(shuō)服萬(wàn)事達(dá)卡(MasterCard)成了公司的簽約客戶。     讓我們一起看看它與美國(guó)財(cái)政部的合作方式，以了解PayPerks的運(yùn)營(yíng)方式。財(cái)政部每年撥付數(shù)十億美元的社會(huì)保障支出，其中很大一部分發(fā)放給了沒(méi)有銀行賬戶的人群，這些人大多通過(guò)財(cái)政部自己的預(yù)付費(fèi)卡——萬(wàn)事達(dá)直通借記卡(Direct Express Debit MasterCard)——接受這筆補(bǔ)助。阿琳說(shuō)，持卡人經(jīng)常徑直去自動(dòng)取款機(jī)，一股腦地取出所有錢，根本就沒(méi)有利用這張卡的種種優(yōu)勢(shì)。4月1日，PayPerks推出一項(xiàng)針對(duì)直通借記卡的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)計(jì)劃。用戶收到一個(gè)內(nèi)置激活碼的刮刮樂(lè)拼圖。依據(jù)這個(gè)激活碼，用戶可以選擇加入這個(gè)獎(jiǎng)賞計(jì)劃。之后，用戶可以遵循一個(gè)教育課程，了解使用這張卡的種種好處，同時(shí)可贏得積分。很快，他們也可以獲得另一種贏取積分的方式——以有助于他們省錢的方式使用這張卡，比如避免取款手續(xù)費(fèi)，選擇低結(jié)余警示等等。每一個(gè)積分都是一次贏取現(xiàn)金獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)的機(jī)會(huì)。獎(jiǎng)金將自動(dòng)存入借記卡，以激勵(lì)用戶繼續(xù)參加這項(xiàng)計(jì)劃。     至今年年底，PayPerks的用戶人數(shù)預(yù)期將從現(xiàn)在的10萬(wàn)增長(zhǎng)至25萬(wàn)。鑒于全球一半以上的人口沒(méi)有銀行賬戶，阿琳認(rèn)為PayPerks具備邁向全球市場(chǎng)的潛質(zhì)。“我們期待成為一家面向全球中低收入消費(fèi)者的頂級(jí)金融服務(wù)提供商，”她說(shuō)。這種商業(yè)模式顯然具有推動(dòng)“公共利益”的一面，盡管阿琳表示這并非有意為之。她最初并不是打算創(chuàng)造一家全然致力于社會(huì)事業(yè)的公司，但在市場(chǎng)調(diào)研的過(guò)程中，她產(chǎn)生了一個(gè)想法，打算創(chuàng)建一家價(jià)值觀共擔(dān)的公司。在這樣一家公司中，社會(huì)使命強(qiáng)化了利潤(rùn)使命。“這并不是妥協(xié)的產(chǎn)物，”她說(shuō)。“它其實(shí)是各種意愿的重疊。”     阿琳和埃里克這些年來(lái)為彼此提供的非正式指導(dǎo)正在促使他們重返鮑登學(xué)院。埃里克的合作伙伴也是在布朗大學(xué)(Brown University)的課堂上構(gòu)想出了他們最初的商業(yè)創(chuàng)意。戴維奇姐弟真希望他們?cè)诒究齐A段就能夠浸淫在類似的創(chuàng)業(yè)文化之中。他們經(jīng)常聽(tīng)聞?dòng)羞^(guò)創(chuàng)業(yè)經(jīng)歷的其他校友表達(dá)過(guò)類似的情緒。     今年秋天，阿琳和埃里克正式啟動(dòng)了“鮑登創(chuàng)業(yè)系列講座”(Bowdoin Startup Series)，進(jìn)而讓在校生有機(jī)會(huì)親耳聆聽(tīng)杰出校友以不同方式成為企業(yè)家的創(chuàng)業(yè)歷程。幾位客座講師每周五將蒞臨這個(gè)只需要申請(qǐng)就能參與的講座。目前已有20位校友同意重返母校，講述自己的創(chuàng)業(yè)故事。同時(shí)，這個(gè)講座也有助于學(xué)生們建立寬廣的人脈網(wǎng)絡(luò)。     雖然埃里克和阿琳不愿透露他們有無(wú)一起創(chuàng)業(yè)的打算，但他們正計(jì)劃一起投資其他的初創(chuàng)公司。姐弟倆的主要標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是，創(chuàng)業(yè)者必須具備非凡的個(gè)人素質(zhì)。阿琳說(shuō)：“一個(gè)最基本的信念是，為了成為一位成功的企業(yè)家，你必須具備饑渴感和靈活性，還需要堅(jiān)持不懈，百折不撓。”這種素質(zhì)是你在紙面上看不到的。而這對(duì)姐弟的經(jīng)歷，恰恰是這種信念最為生動(dòng)的寫照。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）     譯者：葉寒

At the time, prepaid debit cards were a new phenomenon and underutilized by the people who could gain from them the most. "The way you market anything is by educating people on the benefits in an engaging way," she says. "I thought, 'What would it look like to create an engaging and educational experience for this segment of consumers?' That was the problem that I aimed to solve with PayPerks." The solution? A sweepstakes-based rewards program that incentivizes learning about the benefits of financial products and, in turn, helps consumers capitalize off of them.     Arlyn decided to take her idea to Columbia's business plan competition. During early-morning running sessions with her brother, Arlyn practiced telling the PayPerks story to prepare. Arlyn was good at presenting; it was like rehearsing for a performance back at Bowdoin. Eric would give her feedback using the musical terms they both innately understood -- increase your tempo, start softer. Arlyn went on to win, gaining Columbia as her first investor. "It was just me at that point -- just me, a Powerpoint, and a dream," she jokes. She brought in a co-founder who had more experience on the technology side and spent the first year convincing MasterCard to sign on as a customer.     As an example of how PayPerks works, take a look at its partnership with the U.S. Treasury. Every year the Treasury pays billions in social security disbursement. A large portion goes to people without bank accounts, with most receiving benefits through the Treasury's own prepaid card called the Direct Express Debit MasterCard. Cardholders often go right to the ATM, Arlyn says, to take all their money out, negating the card's advantages. On April 1, PayPerks launched its rewards program for the Direct Express card. Users received a scratch-off game piece, which comes with an activation code. After registering the code to opt into the rewards program, users win points by following an educational curriculum on the benefits of the card. Soon they'll also be able to earn points by using the card in ways that help them save money -- avoiding ATM fees, enrolling in low balance alerts. Every point is a chance to win a cash prize with the winnings going back onto the card to drive ongoing engagement with the program.     PayPerks has 100,000 users and is targeting 250,000 by the end of the year. With more than half of the world's population living without a bank account, Arlyn thinks PayPerks has global applications. "We're looking to be the leading financial service marketplace for low- and middle-income consumers globally," she says. The business model clearly has a Common Good aspect to it, which Arlyn says wasn't by design. She didn't start out exclusively looking to launch a social venture, but in doing research she came across the idea of a shared-value company -- one in which the social mission reinforces the profit mission. "It's not a compromise," she says. "It's truly an alignment of intentions."     The informal guidance Arlyn and Eric have provided one another over the years is something they're now taking back to Bowdoin. Eric's partners had come up with the idea of their original business during a class at Brown, and the Davich siblings wished they had similar exposure to a startup culture during their time as undergrads. It was a sentiment they regularly heard echoed by other Bowdoin alumni who had started their own businesses.     This fall Arlyn and Eric are launching the Bowdoin Startup Series, a chance for current students to see firsthand examples of alumni who have been successful in different ways as entrepreneurs. Several guest lecturers will visit the application-only course each Friday. Already, twenty alumni have agreed to come back to tell their stories, which will also help students build a broad network.     While Eric and Arlyn shrug off the idea of starting a business together, they're looking at investing in other startups together. Their primary criterion is that the founders have exceptional personal qualities: "The underlying belief is in order to be a successful entrepreneur you have to be hungry, flexible, and relentlessly persistent," Arlyn says. It's something that you can't see on paper. In their case, it takes one to know one.