Web design firm Zaaz also scouts business angles

Who: Shane Atchison

Who he is: Co-founder of Seattle-based Zaaz

What he does: Runs one of the largest Web design and development companies in Seattle; clients include National Geographic, Kelly Blue Book and Fox TV.

Employees: 40

Revenue: $6 million a year

Background: Atchison was born and raised in Spokane but split his time between home and Santa Barbara, Calif. He received a psychology degree from the University of Washington in 1994 and went directly into Web design.

The lure: "When I first really experienced the Internet firsthand, I couldn't sleep for a week," Atchison said. "I thought, 'This is going to change everything.' " Back then, Atchison said a Web developer's job was to evangelize the Web as a viable medium for communication. "Over time, two years into it, we stopped having to explain what the Web was."

The first: Atchison served as a partner for a now-defunct Web design and development company until 1998. He then founded Zaaz with Julius Brown, a longtime software developer, and Dave Brede, who founded an interactive studio for a branding company.

Beyond design: Atchison said the trio sought to go beyond Web design and find Web-based business opportunities for their clients. Last January, for instance, Zaaz built a new Web feature for Kelly Blue Book that converted its Internet visitors to leads for new car dealerships. "It cost them about $100,000 to build, and they had $3 million of new revenue in one year."

Question of the week: "We have a company meeting every Tuesday that is 45 minutes long. We have a question-of-the-week to get everyone in the organization talking. One was: When you're up to bat at the Mariners game, what song would they play for you? ... We do it to build a culture of openness."

Good karma: Each quarter, the company does a pro bono Web site for a nonprofit organization, from the Seattle Public Library Foundation to the Moyer Foundation. "We have tried to balance our personal successes with giving back to the community."

— Monica Soto