JAMES L. MARCIANO '88 LOVES TO TALK BUSINESS. But then, business has been very, very good to him. Marciano is the CEO of Up-Set, a New York Internet firm that runs Refer-it (www.refer-it.com), the self-proclaimed "premiere search engine for revenue-sharing programs." And that's only his cash-cow; Up-Set has also designed i-Site, bringing the blind community, and Marciano's baby, OurSquare (www.oursquare.com), an online community for Ivy League alums that boasts such famous members as Jordan's Queen Noor.

Yes, Marciano loves what he does, so much so that some might say he has success on the brain. "I can think of things in life more important than being in the Wall Street Journal," he said, "but I could probably count them on my left hand." It wasn't always this way. An admitted high school "burn-out," this social psych concentrator from Winthrop House says he squandered his first two years at Harvard. After a junior year abroad in London, he returned to tackle his classes with a new vigor. Nonetheless, finding a job still held little interest for him.

Instead, he rode around on his motorcycle until he found himself writing screenplays in L.A., working for a consulting firm to pay the bills. The inevitable b-school followed. Finally, he decided what to do with the rest of his life. In a melding of good-old American persistence and Gen-X lethargy, Marciano refused to get out of bed on his thirtieth birthday until he came up with the scheme that would bring him money, power and, of course, respect. It was from these primordial bedclothes that OurSquare, "an intelligent alternative to America Online," was born.

Marciano's advice to recruitees? Study up on your firms and their clients before interviewing. He also favor consulting and commerical banking over I-banking. In the last, he says, "You don't learn anything about a client dropping the keys to their warehouse on your desk and telling you they can't make the next payment." Got all that? Good.

Keep it in mind, and someday you too may be on the "bleeding edge" (his words) with this Internet hotshot.