Jeffrey Green '92 was anything but a computer whiz while he was at the College.
Then, Green was a run-of-the-mill Dartmouth student. He never imagined that just five years after graduation, he would help revolutionize the way we use postage stamps -- from lick and paste to point and click.
Stamps.com, the company he co-founded, will enable consumers to print stamps directly from the Internet, saving them a trip to the post office.
The idea for the company surfaced one morning during his business school days at the University of California at Los Angeles where his friend and co-founder of Stamps.com ran out of stamps while sending out resumes for summer internships.
"Classes were starting at 8 that morning, and the post office wouldn't open until 9 o'clock," Green said. "With new technology developing every day, he wondered why he couldn't print out postage from his computer."
Green and the other founders of Stamps.com drew up a business plan, met with the U.S. Postal Service, and worked out the necessary arrangements for the company.
The company, now worth $1.1 billion, was launched in 1997, and consumers will be able to purchase stamps through the Web starting this October.
When the popularity of the Internet caught on, Green knew it would be more than just a fad.
"I thought, it's going to change everything," Green said. "The ability to deliver content, services, or products over such an infrastructure " that's such a great concept."
At Dartmouth, Green was involved in the volleyball team for four years. In addition to being a member of the Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity and active in Model United Nations, Green was also a Big Brother in the Big Brother/ Big Sister Program for four years.
"The thing I remember most about Dartmouth is the people and the lifelong relationships I formed," Green said. "A lot of the growing you do has to do a lot with the people around you."
Green recalls that he really didn't expect to start a technology company.
After graduating, Green took a job with the publisher Ziff-Davis, where he worked for three years.
At Ziff-Davis, Green helped launch PC/Magazine's Network Edition. Green left after three years, because, as he recalled "I had learned enough, and I didn't like where I was going in terms of my career."
"I wanted to take a vertical step upwards and no one would give me that," Green said.
Just a few years later, Green found himself at the helm of Stamps.com.
"When you start a company," reflected Green, "you have to be prepared for a lot of people to say 'that will never work.' You just have to believe in yourself and your concept."
