referring to people who have gone on to Razorfish (RAZF), for example, or have gone on to found their own Web design shops. She reinvested much of the cash flow directly into her company, which now has 16,000 square feet of office space that includes a digital broadcast facility, production staff, a full array of programmers and 24-hour service. And over the years, Ashe has helped develop technologies, such as programs to help eliminate credit card fraud, that are now being adopted by more-mainstream companies.
Today her site has more than 29,000 subscribers who pay $20 a month to download soft-core porn, gain access to photos and information on models, and view what is virtually burlesque porn, most of it starring Ashe. "I consider myself to be a bit of a Sybil a lot of the time," she says, "There are days when I switch between doing sexy naked things, and then perhaps testifying before the COPA (Child Online Protection Act) commission - and then days when I am just trying to run the business."
From the earliest days of her business, Ashe practiced the time-honored entrepreneurial skills of bootstrapping and discipline. "We built a company that doesn't need outside capital to survive," she says. The company never wasted money on marketing through banner ads or other pricey campaigns; instead, Ashe made a decision to adopt a public persona in order to build her brand.
And the downturn in the dot-com economy has only helped her. "The only real effect the downturn is having on us is an improvement in the available-talent pool," she says, "A year ago at this time, we were having significant difficulties in finding and keeping valuable employees. The lure of get-rich-quick stock option plans and outrageous salary offers from companies with more VC than sense made things pretty tough on us because we just couldn't compete."
Ashe is as modest about her achievements as she is immodest about her body. "It would be false to hold me up as a management genius," she says, attributing her success to a few simple principles. "I've shown up every day, worked hard at it, analyzed my problems and made the best decisions. It comes down to perseverance and dedication. And having fun doing it."
