Ivy League angst takes T-shirt form

Instead of wearing your heart on your sleeve, you can now display your gripes across your chest, thanks to a new clothing line.

With slogans such as "Suburban White Kids Unite" and "Got Adderol?," Heretik, Inc.-- a T-shirt company founded by two Penn students -- seems to have found its niche with cynical college students around the country.

The company, which is currently generating around $1,000 a month in online revenues, was founded last spring by Wharton senior Mike Lam and 2004 College graduate Mike Draper.

Both Lam and Draper said that the founding of the company was unintentional.

"It didn't start off like, 'We're going to form a company,'" Lam, said. "We actually wanted to go visit another guy in our fraternity ... down in Nicaragua, and so we were trying to come up with some creative way for us to get cash."

The shirts that the two first sold displayed the phrase: "Not Penn State." The shirt was originally sold in a store called Steven Barry's that had recently gone out of business.

"Every time I wore it, all the younger kids were asking me where I bought it," Draper said. Lam and Draper had their own versions of the T-shirts printed for $4.25 each and sold them on Locust Walk for $10. They broke even in the first hour, and by the end of the day they had sold all 100.

"Then we thought, 'Why not take it a step further?'" Draper said.

After a few weeks of brainstorming, Draper and Lam came up with the name Heretik, Inc. "We didn't mean to misspell it, but heretic with a 'c' was already trademarked. But it looks edgier with a 'k,'" Draper said.

The name of their company is a reflection of how they view the products that they sell. "We wanted to be consistent with the image of our name," Lam said.

"We're trying to do things that interest us along the lines of our sense of humor."

Draper and Lam say that their shirts are different from others on the market because they are more thought-provoking.

"I really wanted to make most of the T-shirts socially oriented, staying away from shirts that are just drug- or sex-related," Draper said. "It was my personal belief that if you do shirts that are a little more thought-provoking or more intelligent, it won't necessarily scare people away."

One of the shirts that they designed was inspired by the results of last November's election. The "Jon Stewart for President '08" T-shirt attracted attention in New York City when the entrepreneurs were selling them on the streets a few weeks ago. Draper had the opportunity to go to Stewart's studio and watch the taping of one of the shows. He even met Jon Stewart himself.

"He thought it was funny," Draper said.

Aside from coming up with the designs of the T-shirts, Draper and Lam oversee all aspects of the company, from production to legal affairs to sales and marketing. The shirts are made in Iowa, where the father of one of Draper's friends owns a silk-screening print shop.

As for dealing with tax forms, copyright laws and advertising advice, they have turned to friends and relatives for pointers on how to handle the technical aspects of the company.

Lam said that his Wharton education has "absolutely 100 percent," helped him in running the company. "We're dealing with every aspect of business, except on a smaller scale."

Whereas Lam says that he will probably get a job in the corporate world after graduation, Draper is making Heretik a full-time job.

"For me I thought the only way it would ever work is if I did it full-time ... and concentrate on making a living out of it," Draper said. "It's turning out much better than expected."

Although Draper finds the job enjoyable, he also admits that it is "really, really difficult to keep it going."

"You read books like The Tipping Point and you're like, 'Oh man, it's so amazing, you just have to get to that tipping point,' but then you actually start a company and you're like, 'That book doesn't teach you crap!'" Draper said, referencing a popular book about market trends.

To further the business, Draper has been traveling to different college campuses to sell the shirts and has also been promoting the merchandise at different stores in Philadelphia and New York.

The Black Cat -- a store on campus -- ordered some shirts in November. Eighty percent of the T-shirts have since been sold.

"We always try and support local businesses, especially ones that are sort of new and have something interesting," General Manager Erick Tucker said, adding that he planned on ordering more within the next few weeks.

Lam and Draper's next goal is to open up their own store in Des Moines, Iowa, where the T-shirts are produced. At the same time, the two said they are working on building up a group of sales representatives, recruiting their friends to help get the word out.

Daniel Avant, a longtime friend of Lam's, has been helping to promote Heretik in Wilmington, N.C., at the local surf shops and around town.

"I wanted to help him out and expand," Avant said. "I think the shirts are funny and just very applicable to a lot of stuff going on in our generation."

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