The ultimate Entrepreneur

By Rebecca Logan
Staff writer

DURHAM - A group of business people calling themselves Team Elite squeezed around a dining room table, ready to debate which corporate logo would work best for an international Internet entertainment company.

But before the group could delve too deeply into discussion, they had to wait for one of the people pointing television cameras at them to say four little words: In three . . . two . . . one. ''Why's he always saying that? Like we've got lines or something," said Kory Bailey, whose teammates broke into laughter. Welcome to the set of ''Entrepreneur$ - The Reality Show," the brainchild and financial investment of Bob Winstead, a Raleigh real-estate investor.

Staff photo by Tracy Wilcox Mark Carroll, center, a marketing expert from Lee County, is a member of Team Elite on ‘Entrepreneur$ — The Reality Show,’ which is being filmed mainly around the Triangle. At right is Kory Bailey, a former wide receiver at the University of North Carolina and co-owner of several Chapel Hill restaurants and pubs.

In addition to building and promoting the Internet company, the show's final 16 contestants - including Mark Carroll, a marketing expert from Lee County - are filmed as they compete in teams performing philanthropic and community-service projects. ''I was the team leader on the last challenge and that was a charity event," Carroll said. The proceeds from the battle-of-the-bands-type event went to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of North Carolina. The ultimate "Entrepreneur" will win a choice of a business, with $75,000 in startup capital and use of a corporate condo and corporate car. Or, the winner can take $50,000 in cash, according to the show's Web site.

Over several months, hundreds of contestants have been whittled down to a few hundred, then to dozens, and finally to the 16 people who will be filmed until the end.

In numerous ways, the show is similar to Donald Trump's ''The Apprentice,'' which pits team against team in business-related challenges.

For instance, Team Elite wasn't the only group that met to come up with a corporate logo this month. The competing team is doing the same. Judges will decide which is best.

But people involved in the show insist that there are differences from ''The Apprentice." For instance, nobody from the final 16 will be thrown off the show. They might be eliminated from the final prize, but all are supposed to keep working to the end. This can give team leaders the challenge of motivating people who don't stand to gain as much as they do.

Exposure is likely to be another difference.

Millions of people watched the finale of the second season of ''The Apprentice'' on Thursday night.

They pay to play

''Entrepreneur$" is slated to run on Fox 50 after midnight on Fridays starting in February, said Tommy Schenck, general manager of the Raleigh station. The producers of "Entrepreneur$" are paying Fox 50 to air their show, much like producers of an infomercial would, he said.

But some involved with ''Entrepreneur$" have hopes that it could be picked up nationally. Among the hopefuls is Omar J. McCallop, a graduate of Clinton High School who joined Winstead as the other executive producer of ''Entrepreneur$".

The original plan, McCallop said, was to do a reality show that followed Winstead around as he tried to get the Internet company, EventsLeader, off the ground. The idea of getting others involved in a competition developed later, he said.

McCallop has produced shows in other markets, including Washington. And in a business where time is money, he watched with some concern as Team Elite embarked on a long discussion about which color they should wear when they were told they should start dressing with a theme from that point.

''Reality," he muttered.

''It could take them 20 minutes to decide something, and I'll be able to use only a couple seconds," McCallop said. ''Sometimes I miss actors."

Instead, he is working with a group of people of various ages and business interests. On Team Elite, for example, there is Bailey, who is probably the best known of the contestants. He was a standout wide receiver at the University of North Carolina and has since become a co-owner and operator of some Chapel Hill restaurants and pubs, where he also is a D.J. There's a mortgage broker, a vice president of a financial company, a woman who owns a shop serving women who have lost their hair, a woman who works in property management and others, including Carroll, the Cape Fear region's representative among a final 16 dominated by Triangle players. Once involved in marketing in the eastern part of the state, Carroll moved to Olivia in Lee County to be with his grandfather, who has since died. That was John Riddick, an electrical and plumbing contractor who Carroll said taught him to grab onto the chances that came his way. He decided that ''Entrepreneur$" is one such chance. ''Everybody has a dream of being on a reality TV show and here's my opportunity," he said. ''So I'm going to run with it.''

Do a little Googling and you'll find a man on the West Coast named Stuart Weinstein, who said he's trying to pitch a show to the networks. It's also called ''Entrepreneurs" (only there is no $ in his show). His show's scenario involves five American and five Canadian entrepreneurs who form an alliance to create 10 cross-border companies.

Weinstein said reality TV can motivate viewers. Take the ''The Biggest Loser," which he said is inspiring people to lose weight. Likewise, a show about entrepreneurship can inspire better business ventures, he said.

''We've got a real problem with this economy, and I think the solution is the reality show because it just gets right in there and it pushes those hot buttons," he said.

Then there are the business-themed reality shows that have already had a shot in front of national audiences: such as ''The Apprentice," ''The Rebel Billionaire," ''My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss" and ''The Benefactor" starring Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

That last show bombed, noted John Byrne, editor of Fast Company Magazine. Not every business scenario is going to make good TV, he said.

He is, however, intrigued by the idea of ''Entrepreneur$" in that it could serve as good buzz - ''a big fat commercial'' for the resulting final Internet company.

''But there is a risk to this," Byrne said. ''If it doesn't show well, then it is no longer a commercial that helps but one that could hurt. Not all stunts pay off. If it ends up being some sort of schlocky show, then there's the downside."

'It's entertainment'

Fast Company is the national magazine that puts out the annual ''Fast 50'' list. Byrne guesses that a third of the people running the companies that make that list probably watch shows such as ''The Apprentice.''

''Even though I don't believe that the show imparts lessons, it's fun and it's entertainment," he said. ''And there is typically very little entertainment involved in business."

Basically, it's a topic of conversation for many social settings, he said.

''The people we write about are the exact opposite of these reality TV people," Byrne said. ''They aren't into fear and intimidation. They aren't the bullies, and they aren't the egomaniacs. The people we write about value teamwork."

Carroll said Winstead appreciates teamwork.

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''I think he is more geared toward the success of the company than the show," he said.

That doesn't mean there won't be drama, said Carroll, who said there are some contestants whom viewers will end up loving to hate.

And the cast plans to take a cruise next year on the same boat as the cast of MTV's ''Real World'' with the likelihood of a competition against them.

As for how Carroll's persona will come across on the show?

''I guess I would be the clean-cut, well organized, well-versed but very open-minded person who is believes in having a good time," he said.

''We've got a couple of good guys, male and female, and a couple of bad guys. And then there are some people that are more in the middle of the road," Carroll said.

He said probably six personalities will stand out - including his.

''I'm one of the ones wearing a white hat," he said.