The Fighting Entrepreneur

After giving you my abbreviated history the last couple weeks, I thought you might also be interested in a little battle I had with the US government. This article tells the story. It is from February 1997 and was printed in the Salt Lake Tribune.

---

Best-Selling Author Wins in Court

The Federal Trade Commission has lost still another round in its fight with Utah businessman Mark O. Haroldsen, author of the best-selling How to Wake up the Financial Genius inside You.

US District Judge David Sam has dismissed the FTC lawsuit against Haroldsen’s FreeCom Communications and other defendants in the case. Sam ruled the government failed to allege in its lawsuit exactly how Haroldsen’s company defrauded anyone.

Last June, the judge turned down an FTC request to freeze the assets of Haroldsen’s companies. He also refused to appoint a receiver to take over the business operations.

“The FTC uses intimidation to cause businesses to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend themselves against ridiculous allegations,” Haroldsen says. “I hope the FTC realizes they have lost and move on.”

The FTC, and a joint effort with the Utah Attorney General’s office, filed its complaint in Utah federal court in June 1996. It contended Haroldsen, three other individuals and six related companies made unfounded claims at seminars and in television “infomercials” to persuade people to buy $495 starter kits to help them launch home businesses.

The government contended that few if any consumers actually earned substantial income from the business ventures FreeCom detailed — ventures that included the resale of distressed merchandise, the operation of vending machines and the sale of vitamins and color-change T-shirts.

Shortly after the government filed its lawsuit, Haroldsen’s attorney Richard Casey responded that company records indicated customers’ complaints were low, less than a fraction of 1 percent.

Haroldsen’s hope that he will be able to go on with business without the cloud of an FTC lawsuit may not be realized.

Although he dismissed the lawsuit, the judge gave the FTC permission to file an amended complaint within 30 days.

“This is a setback, but we are not too concerned about it,” says Jeff Gray of the Utah Attorney General’s office, which has been working with the FTC.

— Written for the Salt Lake Tribune by Stephen Oberbeck

---

That happened in 1997 but the FTC continued to file suit and, essentially, harass us until July 2001 when the court again found that “the FTC utterly failed to introduce sufficient probative evidence in support of its allegations.” In the end, we sued them for attorneys fees and won.

This whole experience is kind of a lesson in being an entrepreneur who thinks differently than everyone else. When you try something new, and especially when you’re successful at it, people might question what you’re doing. But if you believe in what you’re doing, if you’re offering a useful product or service and are helping people along the way, there’s no reason for you to question it yourself. Believe in what you do, and I think you’ll always come out on top.