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January 10, 2009

In early 2008 Matt McCormick invested $800 to start a small, Seattle business doing mail-in repairs of broken T-Mobile Dash smart phones. Today that company, Jet City Devices (http://www.jetcitydevices.com), has offices in Seattle, Chicago, and Janesville, WI, and offers an array of cell phone repairs and accessories.

It all started shortly after Mr. McCormick quit his job at Microsoft to start his own company doing web development for small businesses. One day he found the screen on T-Mobile Dash broken in his gym bag. The phone had cost him $99 when he purchased the phone and a two-year service contract. When he went to his local T-Mobile store to get the phone fixed, they told him, not only could they not repair it, but he would have to pay the full $300 price for a new phone (the cost of the phone without a contract). He bought the new phone.

Then two weeks later, the screen broke again. Upset and frustrated, Matt decided to try and fix the phone himself this time. After an hour surfing the web looking for parts and information and then another hour doing the actual repair, he had a working phone again and for a lot less money than a new phone.

Assuming that other people must have the same problem, Mr. McCormick saw a business opportunity. He used his web development skills to create a simple site offering mail-in repairs for other T-Mobile Dash owners whose screens had broken.

After posting an ad with Google Adwords, 4-5 phones a week began showing up at his home. A couple months later he added an AT&T Tilt screen repair to the site, upped his Google Adwords budget, and spent a few days doing basic Search Engine Optimization work. Shortly afterwards, this side project business was becoming much more than just a hobby.

In late 2008, Mr. McCormick decided to close his web development business and focus exclusively on his growing cell phone business. He changed the name to Jet City Devices (previously Mobile Device Repair) to reflect the fact that the company planned to do more than just repairs. He also opened a second repair center in Janesville, WI, took on a new business partner in the Seattle area, and he moved to Chicago to start another branch of the business there.

Today, Jet City Devices is thriving as it repairs over a dozen different cell phones, offers in-person as well as mail-in repairs, and has added a variety of accessories to their offering. In short, what started out as a simple side project has become a viable and successful business.

About Jet City Devices, LLC

Jet City Devices, LLC is a Seattle based cell phone repair company offering repairs for a variety of cell phones. (http://www.jetcitydevices.com) These include the Apple iPhone 3G, and a variety of models from AT&T, Blackberry, Nokia, Samsung, T-Mobile, and more. Their services include in-person repairs in the Seattle and Chicago areas and mail-in services available nationwide.