It was at the end of his work with Barter Theatre that the idea for Groundwork was sparked.
His wife, Kathy Robinson, came up with the idea of bartering as their business dropped off, said Mr. Rowley, who usually builds two houses a year and sells them.
"All barter isn't a good idea," Mr. Frost said.
"The idea for the barter business hit me when I traded one of my Baldwin pianos for a Mercury Cougar," Mr. Mardak said in an interview.
His idea: an electronic barter system that allows buyers to name their price for airfares, hotel rooms, cars even mortgages.
He brought the idea of a barter-based pension fund to Dan Galai, a finance professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and an investment banker.
Today, with the economic problems that exist for many people, this barter system seems like a good idea.
His idea of an electronic barter system that allows buyers to name their price for airfares, hotel rooms, cars, even mortgages, boosted his net worth from just a few million dollars to more than $10 billion.
It's not a bad idea to check the "barter" listings under "for sale/wanted" as sometimes people are willing to offer goods in exchange for labor.
