Oct. 31--Startup: Vital signs of a young regional company

Journey Fitness, dba journey gym Portland Formed April 2008

The product: A portable universal gym that weighs 30 pounds and folds into a briefcase. Legs deploy when unfolded; the device supports more than 60 strength and cardio-vascular exercises.

Nickname: "The laptop of personal fitness."

What stage: The final prototype is complete and manufacturing in Taiwan is being set up. The journey gym is scheduled to hit markets at the end of next year's first quarter. Suggested retail price: $395

The founders: John Friess, 34, president, was born in Portland and has a bachelors from the University of Oregon. He did guerilla marketing in 1999 and early 2000 in Portland and Los Angeles for now-defunct Kozmo.com before co-founding wired.MD in Portland, which was acquired by Pennsylvania-based MediMedia Inc. in 2008. Robert Montgomery, 29, vice president of product development, was born in Salem and has a bachelors from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and worked for Oregon as a counselor for troubled youth. Chris Gunson, 42, was born in Eugene and got a bachelors from Northwest Christian College. He does pharmaceutical sales and is not employed by Journey Fitness.

Employees: Five, including two of the co-founders Where they work: In the SW Portland location of NedSpace, a shared office for startups.

The idea source: The three -- Friess and Gunson are cousins, and Friess and Montgomery are brothers-in-law -- came up with the idea on Christmas Day 2007 while talking around a table at Friess' parents home. The initial goal was to find a way for people to exercise while on business trips.

Development: The first four prototypes were built from parts bought at a Lowe's. The founders then hired three engineers, who in turn consulted with 13 more engineers to solve specific problems. Four more prototypes were built with the engineers.

The money: $395,000 from five investors in Oregon and Washington.

The forecast: Sales of $1.5 million in 2010 and $2.5 million in 2011.

Web site: journeygym.com

--Jonathan Brinckman

Know a startup? Send ideas for business startups to profile to Jonathan Brinckman: 503-221-8190

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