A certain two-bedroom apartment off West Parker Boulevard looks like college student living quarters from the outside, but hidden inside is a $22,000-a-month business.
That’s a lot more cash than most college students see in a given month.
At first glance, a visitor notices stacks of papers, a few boxes and an old couch — nothing to wonder about.
The first indication that something is different about this apartment is the two twenty-somethings wearing shiny silk neckties. They sit at computer desks and answer phone calls about every 10 minutes.
Now it’s clear. They don’t live here — they work here.
Jay Lyles, a 24-year-old public administration graduate student, and Eric Hedrick, a 26-year-old Loyola graduate, are the two guys at the desks. Both head separate divisions of Liquid Ventures, a venture capital firm.
Companies categorized as “venture capital” are different from traditional businesses in which investors pledge their money after a company has financially proven itself. Venture capital firm owners present only what they think are good ideas to potential investors.
Payment for investors comes only after these ideas materialize into cash flow.
University alumnus Charlie Davis, who is 27, owns Liquid Ventures. Liquid Ventures is the umbrella company that oversees four others — www.PoliticsLa.com, Varsity Vests, Liquid Politics and Digital Donation.
“We look for investments in small early-stage companies with huge upside potential as well as for companies with intangible benefits,” he said. “For us to invest, the company has to meet both requirements.”
Those intangible benefits include tapping into college sports fanaticism, politics and media-related concepts.
PoliticsLa.com is home to Louisiana-related political news and editorials. Varsity Vests is the company that owns the patent for official LSU vests, ties and cummerbunds. Liquid Politics is a political consulting firm, and Digital Donation specializes in online campaign fund raising.
Both Hedrick and Lyles started their positions in early January.
Though they smiled and joked about their business’ home base, they said they will not be in the apartment permanently.
“We are currently looking for office space to accommodate the companies,” Hedrick said.
Lyles is editor for the Web site, and Hedrick is president of Varsity Vests.
Start-up businesses like Davis owns — and that employ young professionals — are a hot topic.
A recent New York Times feature about Memphis described what type of economy, neighborhoods and entertainment the city would need to draw young, energetic businessmen and women.
The Baton Rouge Business Report ran a front-page special profile called “Forty under 40.” The story described the Baton Rouge business owners and company executives as “people who are making a difference.”
Though Lyles and Hedrick were not featured in that story, they easily could fit into the same category.
The companies Liquid Ventures operates afford young professionals exciting opportunities to take risks by breaking into developing markets such as college aparrel.
Varsity Vests has marketed its official LSU apparel with 25 retail outlets in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and Hedrick plans on expanding the market to Shreveport and other areas this year.
“The Carnival season’s going to be big for us,” he said.
Hedrick worked in Atlanta after graduating, following what he called a trend of many other Louisiana-educated graduates.
“People take their skills and money out of state,” he said.
He is happy he got to return to his hometown and work in a venture capital firm.
Lyles also exited the state after finishing his bachelor’s degree in mass communication. He went to work for a newspaper in the desert town of Midland, Texas, a little more than 300 miles southwest of Dallas.
But the desert life was not for Lyles. After a stint at The Baton Rouge Business Report, he took the PoliticsLa job.
Some University experts think the Web site might be on the verge of becoming a political watchdog to be reckoned with if its writers and designers can consistently produce quality news and editorials.
Wayne Parent, University political science chair and a nationally recognized political analyst, said he has been keeping an eye on PoliticsLa.com since this past summer.
“It’s a good place for a daily summary of Louisiana political news [and] links to Louisiana news sites,” he said. “If you are willing to wade through a truckload of silly and sometimes offensive comments, you’ll find some thoughtful conversations and intriguing political gossip.”
James Garand, a political science professor who taught Lyles, described him as “a strong conservative” and, knowing that, looked for political bias when he examined the Web site.
“It appears that there is little bias in the site,” Garand said.
Garand said additional proof for a lack of bias is the fact that former Commissioner of Insurance Jim Brown — “on the left side of the political continuum” — writes a column for the Web site.
Lyles said he is excited that he and other PoliticsLa writers will be able to fill a void in Louisiana media — a lack of investigative reporting in the political realm.
“There’s a real opportunity for us to do investigative pieces when it comes to politics,” he said.
PoliticsLa is not the only business of Liquid Venture’s four that Lyles thinks is going places. He feels confident about the future of Varsity Vests, Liquid Politics and Digital Donation, and about his and other young professionals’ places with them.
“People are going to notice we’re here,” he said.