40 Under Forty: Jeff Medley, 34

Chief Executive Officer/President

Netfor Inc.

Jeff Medley said his college major was a mistake. He never should have majored in mechanical engineering. In fact, after a stint during college at Hughes Aircraft, he decided the "cookie-cutter 9-to-5 job" wasn't for him. He went to work for

There, Medley learned more about computers, real estate and management. He remembered taking an old computer apart with a screwdriver, referring to books to figure out all the parts. He realized then that he'd always had a fascination with computers, and that was the career direction he should follow.

He's made few mistakes since. "I was lucky enough to shun a degree I was not happy with and salvage the rest of my life," he said.

Medley founded his own company, CompuRite Inc. (now called Netfor) in 1995. He started out by providing computer support to real estate companies, after he had successfully helped another real estate business grow its operations from one location with eight employees to five locations with 60 employees.

He learned by doing and working hard. Medley had a knack of being able to work with people over the phone to figure out their computer bugs. "I can tell you visually what buttons to push, what menu to pull down, where to hit print," he said.

He employed others who could do the same and got a thrill from problem solving. None have computer science degrees. "They just have a passion for computers; they just love them."

Early on, Medley figured that computer selling wasn't the way to go; profits on computer hardware were destined to fall. If he wanted to make money, he would have to provide support services. As he continued to work in the computer business, Medley discovered a niche: franchises. One of Netfor's early clients was Mailboxes Etc. He expanded his staff to provide support 12 hours a day to more than 3,000 locations nationwide.

Medley also developed a system of screen sharing that allows his company to take control of a computer long distance to fix it. This reduced the number of onsite visits and saved MailBoxes Etc. more than $500,000 in eight months. The company awarded Netfor its 2000 Vendor of the Year award.

Medley Brief Case

Favorite book: "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill

Favorite movie: "Wall Street"

Hobbies: Sailboat racing, mountain biking, working out

Pet peeve: People who think up problems, not solutions