James November-December 2024 web - Flipbook - Page 28
A Unique Name for a Magazine The Creation of James
IN THE EARLY YEARS of our
magazine, we often fielded the
question “What kind of a name is
James?” Stick with me here and I’ll
answer that question.
In 1999 former Lt. Governor
Pierre Howard and I created a firm
called Special Corporate Strategies. What made that so interesting (and successful) was the fact
that we were both former legislators. Years earlier Pierre— the
Democratic nominee— had handily defeated me— the Republican
nominee— to become lieutenant
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governor. Pierre is a brilliant man
with both a great sense of humor
and great instincts. We made an
excellent team and I will always
feel lucky that two rivals became
such great friends.
It was my stupid idea to create
an online internet company just
before the bubble burst in 2000.
Pierre and I brought in great
talent like Emery Ellinger and
Mac McGrew and off we went.
We fought to create the new web
company by entering the public
opinion research business (InsiderAdvantage polling), buying the
NOVEM B E R/D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 4
then-must-read political newsletter Bill Shipp’s Georgia, and purchasing a national online company that connected contractors to
government-related opportunities
called Government Bids.
And that’s where James began.
We sold Government Bids to a
publicly held Canadian company
in 2003 and realized we needed to replace it with a revenue
producing enterprise. Generally
speaking, magazines aren’t great
investments, particularly when
they are start-ups. And boy, were
we a start-up.
