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Risk-taker profiles: Richard Masse story. (Targeted Industries Growth Report).

Article Excerpt
Entrepreneurs take serious financial risks. Sometimes you win; sometimes you lose. Richard Masse's Mangrove Tropicals in Kahuku (www.mangrovetropicals.com/lifebgn.html) one of 70 local companies specializing in marine ornamentals (freshwater and saltwater fish, seahorses, clams, shrimp, other critters destined for aquariums instead of restaurant plate) within growing, $34 MM TIGR aquaculture industry. Small niche, lots of mom-and-pop operations: revenues of 70 companies combined only total $1 MM year. But global market big: $1 billion annual retail sales. Entrepreneurs investors recognize potential, willing to roll dice. Here's Masse's story: "I wanted to do this ever since I was a kid. When I was young, I used to visit a friend's house and stare at their fish tank for hours. My parents say they could never drag me away. When I was ten, a friend had a small tank with guppies and the guppies had babies and that was the mast amazing thing to me. How fast they grew, almost overnight. In high school, I worked at pet stores and volunteered at the local aquarium, then went to the University of Rhode Island and got my aquaculture degree. Right after graduation, I headed for Puerto Rico to work for marine ornamentals operation there called Sea Quest. After that, I worked for a series of fish pet stores whose owners were quite frankly jerks. I finally concluded, if I'm going to work for another jerk, it's gonna be me. So in early 1997, I wrote a crude business plan for a marine ornamentals business with help from a friend who was getting his MBA. I looked at Florida. Texas, California and Hawaii as possible sites. You have to choose a warm climate for this business. I could do it in Boston but I'd lose my shirt in heating bills. Florida also had frosts in the winter so you can't run an outdoor operation year round without heating. Texas was unpromising, California was a permitting nightmare. Finally, I got on the Internet and found Hawaii's Aquaculture Development Program and contacted its manager, John Corbin. John was s uper-helpful since day one. I decided to fly out to Hawaii and check it out. I was introduced to everyone in the industry here, and one of the guys I met tipped me off to a guy, Mike Rippey, who wanted to do a similar business and by end of '97 we were partners and ready to launch so I moved out here. Mike is a Northern California entrepreneur who started a successful T-shirt company. Mike got interested in aquaculture...