Teen lawn mowing entrepreneur wins private meeting with Malone

Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 22, 2006 at midnight

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Emil Motycha took out his first bank loan before he could drive.

The then-13-year-old used the money to buy a commercial lawn mower. By age 17, the Longmont resident was competing against established firms for commercial and government accounts and making hiring and firing decisions as he oversaw a crew of five employees.

"I can't see the point of working at Wal-Mart," said Motycha, now 18. "I'd rather be on my own."

Motycha's business, Motycha Enterprises LLC, won top honors in the ages 18-21 category Thursday night at the Celebration for Young Entrepreneurs, an annual fundraiser for the Young Americans Center for Financial Education. The center selects a winner from as many as 15 applicants for each of four age groups, said Barbara Danbom, its chief executive.

As part of the prize, Motycha was paired with a mentor: Liberty Media Chairman John Malone, who Forbes magazine ranks as the 204th richest American with a personal fortune of $1.7 billion. The two met for about two hours last month in Liberty's Douglas County office. Malone, who displayed his own entrepreneurial spirit during his hardscrabble youth by holding a paper route and repairing and reselling broken radios, shared some of his advice, such as don't sell shares of your company to the public.

"He suggested that if I can, I should stay private so I can keep control of my destiny," Motycha said.

Now a freshman at University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business, Motycha is transitioning out of landscaping. ("The market's getting oversaturated," he said. The new companies "slash their prices to get their foot in the door, and then all the customers think prices ought to be that low.") He spends his nights working on his fledgling commercial cleaning company. His post-college plans are still taking shape, but Motycha is intrigued by the idea of starting a renewable energy or construction management business.

Motycha managed to run his business while getting good grades at Silver Creek Senior High. In his spare time, he played soccer, ran cross country and became an Eagle Scout.

"He's got a lot of moxie," said his uncle, Jeff Wilson, who was one of Motycha's first customers. "He's also humble, and it's not to put on a show that he's humble. He's just that kind of person."

Fittingly, Motycha credits his parents - who co-signed his loans, accompanied him as he made sales calls and drove him to his lawn mowing jobs before he had a driver's license - with his success.

"I just saw my parents" - who started their own businesses as a lawyer and a real estate mortgage operator - "doing it themselves when I was young, and picked it up," he said.

Other Young Entrepreneurs 2006 winners

AGES 6-11

• Dillon Hayutin, 11, and Ilana Hayutin, 8

• Company: Hayutin Heartfelt Creations

• Business: The brother-and-sister artists market their work on note cards, bookmarks, coasters, placemats and prints. The Hayutin's cards are sold at two Denver-area gift shops, Show of Hands and Gift Gourmet, and will soon be sold at the Children's Hospital Gift Shop.

AGES 12-14

• Kenny Hogrefe, 13

• Company: Kenny's Feeder Lobster Roaches

• Business: Hogrefe operates in an unusual niche in the pet food business - live lobster roaches, the preferred meal of many reptiles. Hogrefe, a Pagosa Springs resident, started his business after the lobster roaches he bought to feed his pet chameleons began breeding more than he needed. His business serves customers in 15 states.

AGES 15-17

• Joey Baum, 17

• Company: JB Pouches, LLC

• Business: Longmont High School senior Joey Baum created his eco-friendly shopping bags to eliminate the waste of plastic. His $3 reusable polypropylene shopping bags carry four times the load of standard bags and feature a flat bottom. Baum sells his bags, which sport the logo "Saving the World, One Bag at a Time," through Boulder-area farmer's markets and at independent grocery stores.

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