You Win! Poor You! Critics are following your every move. Competitors are targeting you. Your friends resent you. Now why'd you have to go and be a success?

Martha Stewart treats her staff like slaves. Oh, yeah? HowardSchultz "picks on the little guy" by shamelessly openingnew Starbucks cafes beside independent cafes. Well, listen tothis-Jeff Bezos is trying to send brick-and-mortar bookstores to anearly grave; maybe he should focus on getting Amazon.com into theblack instead. And Bill Gates-well, he just has too much money!

From tabloid fodder and paranoid proclamations to pure envy, thepublic sure spends a lot of time tarnishing what are supposed to bejoyous success stories. Let's face it, if Gatesdidn't rank as the richest person in the world in thisyear's Forbes list, he'd still get picked on-onlyfor being poor instead of rich. So are the years (or months thatfeel like years, given 20-hour workdays) invested in erecting newindustries, adding to today's winning ideas or merelyestablishing career autonomy all worth it if they make you thebull's-eye in the latest mudslinging match? Well, we found thateven if dues paid include botched friendships, the threat ofcorporate collusion and sheer exhaustion, pursuing "thedream," for most entrepeneurs, is worth the cost.

Facing Fierce Competitors

Even after recounting the loss of valuable time with his wifeand two small children, who stayed behind in Ohio while he laid thefoundation for his business in Atlanta, William Roth, 32,wouldn't choose a different path if he had the chance. Hisbrainchild, ChannelLink, started in January 2000, is a Web-basedtrade exchange connecting pharmacies with pharmaceuticalmanufacturers. "When you're sitting in business school,define the coolest thing you could do, and it would probably haveto do with pharmaceuticals, health care or technology," hesays. "And here we are, an Internet company focused on the toppharmaceutical manufacturers, and we're being embraced by thebuyers to the point that they're hugging us at tradeshows."

While buyers have warmed up to the ChannelLink concept,wholesalers such as Cardinal Health, where Roth served in variouspositions for 10 years, cringed at such a business model. Inresponse to Roth's new company, wholesalers announced their ownexchange, as did medical surgical manufacturers intending to addpharmaceutical products. But despite the head wind, Roth negatesintimidation with confidence: ChannelLink's niche-name-brandpharmaceutical manufacturers and fragmented pharmacy buyers-goesbeyond what he believes wholesalers can achieve. And, he says,"there are always governmental eyes threatening any kind ofcollusion implication, so the lawyers we've spoken to don'tsee the manufacturers coming together to rally behindthat."

When you create a new business model, which Roth did when heintroduced the trade exchange now recognized by industry experts,competition will undoubtedly pop up. For Roth, it's onlyvalidation. But when your former boss, after hearing about youridea, hops on a corporate jet just to talk it down to one of yourco-founders, it's gotta sting. "That's been reallyawkward, because if you asked anyone at Cardinal what I was like,they would've defined me as extremely loyal anddedicated," says Roth. "But within two weeks, all thatunraveled. The friendships I made in my 10-year careerthere-it's interesting how it all changes."

Michael Reed, 31, and Alan Ezeir, 32, co-founders of dotcomdomain name alternative WebSite.ws in Carlsbad, California, have also had todefend their idea from defamation. But with projected 2000 sales of$20 million, up $17 million from 1999, it hasn't been tooworrisome. Take, for instance, Scott Blum, founder of Internetsuperstore Buy.com and Internet incubator ThinkTank, who, accordingto Ezeir, told him that ".ws" would be a huge brandingchallenge. The sentiment was seconded by another industry insiderin a San Diego Union-Tribune article. But the commentsdidn't stop Ezeir: "AT&T was the only [long-distance]company in 1984, and then MCI came along, and a lot of peopleprobably said there's no way another phone company's goingto have the ability to come on the scene."

Ezeir, a "serial BIZ Experiences" who met Reed when hetried to couple telecommunications and the Internet in 1996,hasn't spoken with Buy.com's Blum since WebSite.ws topped60,000 registrations just 120 days after launching service inspring 2000. He still hopes to work with Blum in the future,though.

Other than discouraging words, WebSite.ws hasn't encounteredany all-out assaults from competitors. But if you rattle anindustry like William Roth did, it's inevitable other partieswill try to counteract the threat. According to MichaelO'Connor, an executive consultant for corporations at TheFortunate 500 Foundation in Naples, Florida, and co-author ofThe Platinum Rule (Warner Books) andPeople Smarts (Pfeiffer & Co.), whenrival companies conspire against you, values (or lack thereof) comeinto play. To put it plainly, ethics are the least ofcompetitors' concerns when their survival is at stake.

You could join them, but watch your back. "The only way youget people not to be 'shady' competitors is if you dosomething for them, and they play the Godfather game withyou-'You scratch my back; I'll scratch yours,' "says O'Connor. "But when you no longer have anything tooffer them, then you're no longer going to get the sameresponse from them."

If partnering with competitors is out of the question, but theirattacks show no signs of stopping, O'Connor recommendsconfronting them. "The best way to approach them isdirectly," he says. "Say, 'I understand your goal isto win, and I want you to understand my goal, in terms of ourrelationship, is simply not to lose.' " A signed legalagreement helps, of course. "Otherwise," saysO'Connor, "just don't bother with those individuals.Create relationships with [those who have] a value system morelikely to contribute to your success."

Jealous Friends Hindering Success

She's never worried about ruthless competition, and shecertainly didn't think twice about telling friends she wasdeveloping a terrific PR firm. But while menacing rivals stayed inthe shadows, friendships took a strange turn for Marni Salup, ownerof Salup Public Relations Ltd. in New York City, a firm serving thelifestyle arena. And in the three years since founding her publicrelations company, she's learned more than she thought shewould about personal relations. Longtime friends who doled out badadvice, discouraging her from taking risks because, says Salup,"they were projecting their personal issues" into thematter, come to mind. "It's not so much that friendshipshave terminated, but they've definitely changed," saysSalup, 28. "I've really learned who I can trust and lookto for insight."

If friends start trying to dash your hopes with cruel sneers,hold their own low self-esteem accountable. According toO'Connor, people who resent your business success might try toget even with you or, as in Salup's case, block you from beingsuccessful. Others who are more indirect about their resentmentmight abandon your friendship altogether.

"Some [people] think you're flat-out nuts because theycan't comprehend the idea of charting your own course,"says Roth of the mixed response he's gotten from friends.Unfortunately, his long hours don't give him time to confrontthe issue. "Sometimes I see my family [who relocated toAtlanta in May]," he says, "but I haven't really seenfriends outside of work since November."

Curiously, family members have warmed up to Michael Reed,despite his round-the-clock dedication to WebSite.ws."They've come out of the woodwork and become more amiablenow that things have been taken to another level with ourbusiness," he says. Just familial concern? Perhaps-butnot likely.

Employees Who Want More Money

Success spawns lots of interesting occurrences. After signalingWebSite.ws' success by moving to a bigger location, Ezeir andReed were shocked by how many employees asked for raises. "Ican count on half of one hand how many people have not asked for araise," says Reed. Reports of fake bills from unknown vendors,increased charges from regular vendors, invoices from prospectscharging for the time it takes them to read WebSite.ws pitches, andoutlandish rent are all real-life "success stories"enjoyed by the duo.

And don't forget the investors who wouldn't give the".ws" concept the time of day, leaving Ezeir and Reed nooption but to fund the company themselves. "Now everyone'strying to congratulate us and get in on it because they see whatwe've done," says Ezeir.

As for those needy employees, some raises were given, but"just because" bonuses weren't. "It's notjust because the company's doing well that we're suddenlygoing to give raises regardless of whether [employees] deserve itor not," says Reed. And so far, the nonraises, plus aphotograph accompanying the Union-Tribune article of eachfounder standing beside his Ferrari, haven't sparked ill willor accusations of greed.

The Benefits of Being Successful

So, is taking flak from industry peers, losing friends andputting your health at risk with stress and no sleep worth it?"This has been tougher than I ever imagined," admitsRoth, who keeps a sleeping bag at the office and showers at afitness club. "Running a business is pretty stressful . . .but if it were easy, there'd be a [huge] number of us outthere."

Ezeir and Reed don't want it any other way either-butthey're glad they started their business when they werefootloose and fancy-free. Says Ezeir, "I enjoy the successbecause I know what it's going to give me: the ability to dowhat I truly love, which is walk into a classroom and teach kidsabout BIZ Experiencesship without worrying about paying the bills orif my parking meter's going to run out."

With new boundaries between friendship and work, Marni Salup,who has ambitiously grown Salup Public Relations from one clientand a three-month contract to 15 clients, has accepted obstacles aspart of the job. She envisions, at times, moving to an island andopening a windsurfing shop, but realizes she'd wind up eitherback in New York or doing PR on the island. You see, it's justin their blood, and a billion tense moments can't change that.Maybe to ease those pangs of success, you should do what Salupwishes she'd done earlier: "I would've startedpracticing yoga."