选择慢成长的五家创业公司

致力于清洁又环保的产品

公司名称：MMJ Labs

地点：佐治亚州，亚特兰大

年收益：约80万美元

    儿科医师艾米•巴克斯特当初想到这个点子的时候就知道有戏。她的产品名字叫Buzzy。它拥有小巧的蜜蜂状外形，可震动，此外还附有一个冰袋，能够缓解人们在医疗注射后的疼痛感。她发现在市场上并没有类似产品与其竞争。她本可以听取那些在她看来“很专横的建议”，那就是与股权投资者合作从而大幅提高产量。但她并未这样做，而是选择从美国国立卫生研究院（National Institutes of Health）获取授权，从而得以坚持自己的理念，那就是生产一种绿色包装、可重复使用并且在美国本土制造的产品。对投资者而言，这些举措或许并不能让他们达成利润最大化的目标。

    但巴克斯特并无遗憾。她于2009年成立了自己的公司。那些已经试用过Buzzy的医院都提升了产品的信誉。现在个人用户也开始购买这种产品，公司的销售额开始迅速增长。她说：“公司成立两年来，我们一直是赢利的，但其实我们还没开始做市场营销呢。”

Keeping the company clean and green

Company: MMJ Labs

Location: Atlanta, Ga.

Revenues: About $800,000

    Pediatrician Amy Baxter knew she was onto something when she came up with Buzzy, a cute, vibrating bee-shaped device with an ice pack that provides natural relief from the pain of medical injections. Realizing there was nothing like it on the market, she could have ramped up quickly by responding to what she calls "overbearing suggestions" to meet with equity investors. But instead, she opted to go after a grant from the National Institutes of Health, which she won. That gave her the freedom to stick with her vision for a reusable product that used green packaging -- and was made in the U.S. -- moves that would not necessarily deliver the highest profits to investors.

    Baxter has no regrets. She launched her startup in 2009. Hospitals that tried Buzzy helped give the product credibility, and now individuals have begun to purchase it, sparking sales growth at the startup. "We've been profitable the last two years -- and haven't started marketing yet," she says.