A former Goldman Sachs financial analyst, Park, 28, founded Kozmo in 1997 with Yong Kang, his freshman roommate at NYU.
From the Web To Your Door
By Anita Hamilton

It all started when Joseph Park wanted to buy the latest John Grisham novel. He logged on to Amazon.com, found it in seconds and proceeded to checkout. But the list of delivery options and shipping charges left him so nonplussed, Park says, that he eventually gave up and drove to a bookstore to buy it in person.

That was four years ago. Since then, Park founded Kozmo.com, a one-hour urban delivery service that lets people place orders online and receive them by messenger—without a delivery fee. "I decided to take all the advantages of the Net and marry them with instant gratification," he says.

Today Kozmo serves 300,000 customers in 11 cities, rushing to their doorsteps with everything from Palm computers and MP3 players to snack food and video games. The only pothole in Kozmo's bike path is the same one that has upset so many Web ventures: the money drain.

1 | 2
Name: Joseph Park
Age: 28
Why critics are taking note: As e-commerce grows, so does the need to bring goods from the Net to people's doorsteps
Kozmo.com

THIS MONTH'S INNOVATORS







Will the 21st century produce more important innovations than the last? Who will be the top inventors? Tell us if you agree with TIME's choices.


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The ability to clone humans
A cure for cancer
Extending the average life past 100
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Transcript of chat with Steve Stanford, from Sunday, September 10th on CNN.com

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Photos: Miguel de Icaza by RICHARD SCHULTZ FOR TIME,
Rob Malda by JONATHAN SAUNDERS FOR TIME,
Joseph Park by CATRINA GENOVESE FOR TIME,
Alain Rossman by DAVID STRICK FOR TIME,
Steve Stanford by GLEN WEXLER FOR TIME,
Sherry Turkle by AARON GOODMAN FOR TIME
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