Older, cooler, ready to profit

Jud Bowman says he is going to build the next $100 million revenue company in the Triangle.

Don't bet against him.

The 27-year-old is the co-founder of Motricity, the Durham software company that he helped build with code that he wrote as a nerdy 18-year-old with Bill-Gates-like hair and glasses.

But last year, Motricity merged with a company on the West Coast, and executives decided to move to a location outside Seattle.

Bowman, who by this time was chief technology officer, said: No go. He didn't move.

Now with about 15 employees, loyal backers, far more experience and way cooler hair, Bowman is ready to "do it all over again."

In a deal with undisclosed terms, Bowman bought PocketGear, a Motricity unit that focuses on media-rich content for expensive phones such as the iPhone, Blackberry, Treo and Google's new Android.

"We all had to make a personal decision whether or not to move," Bowman said during an interview at Motricity's remaining offices at the American Tobacco Campus. "I stood back and said no. "

The new business is a sharp turn from Motricity's teen-dominated market, where ring tones and simple games download for $2 to $3 each.

PocketGear users spend $20 or more per download for mobile applications such as navigational tools, mini office managers and diet and exercise assistants. It's a much lower-volume business but one with far fatter margins. The unit produces about $10 million in annual sales, according to those involved in the deal.

"These phones are already coming down in price, so this is the segment of the market that is going to explode," Bowman says.

Analysts say building the company could be difficult as competition increases, but many agree that it's the right bet, given the evolution of wireless technology and culture.

"The premise is accurate," said research analyst Charles Golvin of Forrester Research. "All cell phones are getting more capable, have faster data connections and larger displays. So there is a greater opportunity than ever to deliver richer applications and content."

Betting on Bowman

Others are convinced of the value of Bowman's new venture simply because Bowman is behind it.

"The biggest bet we make is on people, not ideas, not markets and not products," said Steve Nelson, managing director of Charlotte venture firm Wakefield Group, which has an office in Chapel Hill. "You back the right people, you win; the rest can change."

Nelson, together with Mike Elliott of venture firm Noro-Moseley Partners in Charlotte, first invested in Bowman in March 2000, when he was 18 and working with colleague Taylor Brockman on Pinpoint, a predecessor company to Motricity.

"I said at the time [that] he is the single most talented individual under 30 that I've ever met," Nelson said. Bowman, a classically trained pianist, had then recently dropped out of his first year at Stanford. "Eight years later, I still say that."

After meeting Bowman, Nelson and Elliott flew in renowned search-engine guru Steve Arnold to assess software code that Bowman had written for mobile content. "You have a Mozart on your hands," was the answer Nelson remembers. Auspicious, he thought.

Bowman's college-dropout status even mirrors that of famed entrepreneurs Bill Gates of Microsoft, Steve Jobs of Apple and Michael Dell of Dell.

Bowman and Brockman spent the next several years raising money, wheeling and dealing with business moguls, making hiring mistakes and, in a few instances, getting bruised. Brockman is now a technology research architect at Motricity, but it was unclear Tuesday whether he would stay or seek other opportunities.