Sleeping on the Job

I'm the managing partner of MetroNaps, a company that operates facilities where people can come to take a nap. Our customers rest in the patented MetroNaps Pod, which is a portable, private chair that MetroNaps designed specifically for midday sleeping. We're located in the Empire State Building in New York and Vancouver International Airport in Canada.

In New York, our customers are busy professionals working in and near the Empire State Building. In Vancouver, clients waiting for flights can nap in one of two pods located in the Transborder departure terminal. In addition to operating the stores, MetroNaps sells and leases pods to companies, gyms, hospitals, universities, and spas.

I came up with the idea for MetroNaps while working in investment banking. I saw my colleagues falling asleep during meetings and at their desks. They sometimes even snuck off to the bathroom to get some shuteye. But it wasn't until I started my MBA at Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh that I really focused on the idea, connected with business partner Christopher Lindholst (Columbia Business School MBA, 2002), and raised funds for the business.

Christopher is the liaison to our lawyers and accountants and handles much of our public relations, while I organize marketing, work closely with manufacturers, and oversee the airport store. We work together on issues of corporate strategy and pod design. Two years after forming the company, our business is thriving, and we spend most of our days trying to keep up with demand. We plan to aggressively grow our company over the next few years, which keeps us very busy. Here's a look at my average day:

8:00 a.m. Within 30 minutes, I'm off to MetroNaps by subway from Brooklyn.

9:30 a.m. A Chilean news agency is shooting a story on MetroNaps. Since we opened, we've received press from around the world. The shoot goes smoothly: I watch the reporter do her "stand-up" introduction, and then I answer questions about the business on camera.

10:30 a.m. I catch up on the e-mails that have accumulated since last night. I expected a status report from the Vancouver airport store, but it's missing, so I've got to follow up with the manager.

11:00 a.m. Sourcing. I scour the Web and make many phone calls in search of vendors to service our upcoming franchise program. We need everything from customized furniture to private-label aromatherapy sets.

1:00 p.m. A friend from business school plans to start his own venture and wants to meet me for advice, so we head out for barbecue in nearby Koreatown. I find it funny that people turn to me for advice when I'm still learning, but I often surprise myself with how much experience I've accumulated in the last two years.

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