Derek Johnson, a former UW student turned away by the Foster Business School, has proved that age, experience and business degrees are not necessarily prerequisites for success.

Johnson’s business, which launched five weeks ago, offers users a way to communicate to large groups of people via text messages. The venture is called networkText.

Johnson transferred to the University of Houston during his junior year at the UW, only to return to Western Washington, leaving the UH’s business program to start networkText.

“The idea came from being in a fraternity where we were having trouble communicating with members,” Johnson said. “We tried e-mails, phones, Facebook, but it just wasn’t perfect.”

Unsatisfied with the usual methods of communication, Johnson set out to develop a server that would make it possible to message groups of people simultaneously. The result of Johnson’s hard work and perseverance, despite the risk of leaving school and investing $100,000 in capital, is the success of networkText.

“NetworkText offers a way to communicate with a group via text messaging from either the computer or a phone. We have some larger groups of 5[,000] to 10,000,” he said. “We serve sports teams, church organizations, fraternities and sororities. Every kind of group can use our service.”

The service that networkText provides is completely free — save for service providers’ charges. Companies like NBC, Chevy and Denny’s use the bottom of text messages for 30-character ads.

Johnson was surprised by the rate at which networkText has expanded.

“So far we’ve grown from a couple thousand messages per month to over 1.5 million. This month we’re hiring another five people,” he said. “It’s growing extremely fast.”

The employees Johnson hires share a unique feature. Save for an advisory board, the staff is made up entirely of college students.

“Most of the people we’re marketing to are college students [so] it’s best if we have someone who can relate to them,” Johnson said of his hiring practices.

Andrew Dumont, a sophomore at Western Washington, is the marketing director. He played a large part in networkText’s success.

Dumont utilized MySpace, Facebook and e-mail messages to spread the word, emphasizing the strength of networkText’s security. Information is unavailable for potential spammers to copy and paste in the unlikely event that the networkText system is breached.

“Phone numbers are completely confidential,” Dumont said. “They’re seen only by the user and the team at networkText. So far we haven’t had a problem, and I don’t foresee one.”

The safety and success of networkText can be attributed to Johnson’s work ethic.

“A lot of people have great ideas, but they just sit in their heads,” he said, “When I have a great idea, I start on it right away. I work 15-hour days every single day. We never stop working. I think you have to do that.”

He advises young entrepreneurs to pursue their own business ideas.

“Number one, just do it,” he said. “And number two, get a lot of advice — never stop asking for help.”

[Reach reporter Kyle Frischkorn at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]