Hectic but Casual Existence For E-Commerce Workers

Mike Peterson might look like he’s goofing off, as he casually putts golf balls around his Woodland Hills office. But he’s actually hard at work.

“It’s a great way to brainstorm,” said Peterson, marketing director for Woodland Hills-based eNutrition.com. “This is the way we discuss ideas, not in the boardroom. There’s no tablet, no pen. You putt and talk. It’s much more conducive to the free flow of ideas.”

For Peterson, a former Walt Disney Co. and Universal Studios Inc. marketing executive, it’s another example of the glaring cultural differences between corporate America and the Internet startups.

It starts with the clothes trading in the pinstripe suit and wingtips for faded jeans and wrinkled T-shirts. But that’s just one aspect of this new workplace, which has offices in former warehouses, often without cubicles, and where chief executives and receptionists share the same space.

“The core of the business plan for most of these companies is ‘Run like hell,’ and if you’re not, you’re doing something seriously wrong,” said Dudley Brown, managing director of BridgeGate LLC, a management consulting firm that has worked with Stamps.com, Buy.com and Broadband Sports. “They gotta’ get there first and stake out their territory and figure out what they need to be doing. Because if they don’t, someone will think of it before them.”

Multi-task juggling

At many an Internet startup, you make your own coffee, run your own errands and scramble to do whatever is necessary.

“I haven’t shared office space before. I was in the corporate world with my own office and assistants. Now I’m in cubes again,” Peterson said. “I’m doing my own faxing, Fed-Exing, ordering paper for the copy machine. You can’t have any egos here, but just be willing to roll up your sleeves.”

For those working at companies in the ramp-up mode preparing to launch a Web site or product or initial public stock offering it can be a 24/7 deal.

With the promise of company stock, grumbling is kept to a minimum, even at firms where salaries are on the low side. David Reis, former head of publicity for “The Miss Universe” division of CBS Corp., is earning one-third his former pay as vice president of development at Incredibleart.com.

“Knowing that I have the option that I may never have to work again makes this worth my while,” said the 33-year-old. “In general, the community is realizing the limits of a general salary and what (tremendous wealth) you can get from company ownership.”

Staying focused

To keep things humming, many Internet companies try to accommodate their troops during peak-pressure times. Before Stamps.com launched last fall, company officials arranged for dry cleaning services, car washes and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream socials.

“We had no time for distractions. Stamps.com played it smart so there was no danger of burnout,” said Mark Stier, director of product management.

For Melissa Jodis, who just survived her first e-Christmas at Santa Monica-based eHobbies.com and is already planning for Christmas 2000, it’s a “very hectic” workday that can only be managed by virtue of being single.

“Our personal lives are in chaos. I’m single and even if I were married, I’d be single by now,” said Jodis, eHobbies’ senior lead employee in customer service for the past five months. “I have the money in the account to pay the bills, but to write the check and put a stamp on the envelope is a project. Luckily, since I’m not home much, there isn’t much to clean.”

Once a project gets off the ground, however, the pace can slow considerably.

Since November’s launch of Life.com’s “My Life,” a program designed to electronically compile one’s memories, thoughts and family pictures, seven-day work weeks have slowed to about 50 hours for content editor Casey Kramer.

“We’re doing more research, most of us are on the Web doing lots of reading and copying and pasting. It’s not the constant interaction that it was in the past,” Kramer said.

Another challenge is maintaining the camaraderie of the early days as a company’s ranks swell. Stamps.com’s workforce has exploded from 12 to 300 employees in three years.

But the company is determined to keep its culture loose, despite its size.

“People still have basketball hoops on pillars, there are ping-pong tables for breaks, and you can see our CFO walking through the office coming from a ride with his mountain bike and pushing up his Oakleys (sunglasses),” Stier said. “We even have cross-functional ‘happy hours’ to stay abreast of what’s going on in every segment.”