Wesley Furuta thought he had it made four years ago, when he
graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in economics and
plans to begin a business consulting job at Arthur Andersen
LLP.
But in 2002, when corporate scandal struck the
once-distinguished accounting firm, and Furuta lost his job, he
began to pursue his own entrepreneurial endeavor: koozko.com.
As an undergraduate, Furuta was puzzled by other students who
would pay full price for textbooks and then sell them back for a
small fraction of the cost originally paid.
He thought the UCLA community needed a way to buy and sell goods
without a middle man, and so Furuta designed koozko.com.
Koozko.com is a self-described “premier auction
site” ““ a cross between eBay and Craig’s List.
The site also boasts a message board to encourage a comfortable and
social setting, Furuta said.
Both eBay and Craig’s List are popular sites for UCLA
students. But Furuta believes he can compete for a niche market by
offering a more personalized service.
“Ebay and Craig’s List are not geographically
specific enough to cater to the UCLA community,” he said,
also noting that some services charge listing and final value fees,
while his service is absolutely free.
The Web site also greets students with a familiar mascot, a
fictional character named Koozko and resembling a bruin.
Students save money with koozko.com because they can negotiate
purchases and avoid shipping charges.
UCLA students can already buy, sell and trade textbooks on
bruinwalk.com ““ an entity of Student Media UCLA ““ but
“there is room to compete,” said Justin Hartung,
director of bruinwalk.com.
While students use bruinwalk.com to check e-mail, praise and
criticize professors, and to access personal files away from a
personal computer, said Hartung. “An auction site that sells
goods is in a totally different market.”
Furuta credits UCLA for fueling his entrepreneurial spirit. He
said the UC’s “theoretical” teaching style
nurtures student creativity, and instead of providing vocational
skills, stimulates the thought process.
And this foundation in theoretical thinking appears to be paying
off.
In April, the plan for koozko.com was one of the top five
finalists in the University of Hawaii’s Business Plan
Competition.
On Sept. 26, 2003, koozko.com celebrated its official launch in
Bruin Plaza with information about the Web site, a disc jockey,
prize giveaways and a barbeque sponsored by UCLA UniCamp.
In less than a month, the site has accumulated an estimated
1,000 registered users and has had 10,000 individual visitors, with
current auction offerings ranging from organic chemistry books to
designer jeans.
Koozko.com is currently unprofitable, but Furuta anticipates
increased student use will allow him to boost advertising sales,
and turn a profit.
“If we can prove that we are fulfilling a need that has
not been met, then more student traffic will continue to come our
way,” he said.
Particularly satisfying for Furuta might be the fact that UCLA
students are voicing their appreciation of koozko.com.
“Now that I know about the site, I think it is something
that I would potentially use once it increases the size of its
audience,” said second-year aerospace engineering student
David Alcaide.
“I think the greatest chance for koozko to get heard about
is by word of mouth. If one person finds it helpful, they will tell
their friends, he said. “But I don’t know if it will
ever be better than eBay.”