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Jesse Biter ended 2010 with a monumental decision for an entrepreneur who built a $16 million auto sales software firm for scratch: To sell or not to sell.
Biter, a Sarasota resident, ultimately decided to sell his company, HomeNet Automotive. AutoTrader.com, a $600 million subsidiary of Atlanta-based Cox Communications, bought it. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
The deal makes logistic sense for AutoTrader, considering the online auto sales company has used HomeNet's proprietary software system for a few years. “They decided they would rather own the company than be a customer,” Biter tells Coffee Talk.
But the deal leaves Biter, at least temporarily, with nothing to run. He founded HomeNet in 1996 from a $1,000 loan from his mother after he dropped out of college in his native Pennsylvania. HomeNet's eventual success earned Biter millions of dollars, plus recognition as a runner-up for the Review's 2010 Entrepreneur of the Year award. (See Business Review, May 14, 2010.)
“It's still somewhat surreal,” Biter tells Coffee Talk about not having a company to go to every day. “It hasn't really hit me yet.”
For one, Biter says he's been busy traveling. He went on a cruise with his family during a long New Years Eve weekend, a trip bookended with vacations to Hawaii and Colorado. “I haven't had a chance to be bored yet,” says Biter.
Biter is also not totally unemployed. He recently launched a private investment fund for high-end investors, in conjunction with Frank DiGiovanni, a money manager who oversees Biter's personal investments. The fund, Biter DiGiovanni, currently has about $10 million in assets and Biter says his goal is to reach $100 million by the end of 2011.
Biter plans to recruit clients for the venture and leave the money management to DiGiovanni. Says Biter: “This gives me something new and exciting to tackle.”
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