Health scare spurs shift to entrepreneur

Who: Patrick Mazzuca, 35, president of Marcan

What it does: Compact-disc and DVD-duplication services

Employees: Eight

Change of command: In August, Mazzuca and investors Tony Bristol and Mark Daquila acquired Marcan from Marvin Groberman, who founded the Bellevue company in 1992. Groberman is now happily retired in Palm Springs, Calif., Mazzuca said.

New outlook: Mazzuca was diagnosed with a brain tumor last year, and said for a few days then he thought he could die. His condition stabilized, but the ordeal prompted a major career change. "I just sort of realized I wasn't living what my dreams were," he said.

Leads to a new job: For Mazzuca, most recently director of sales for a company that makes bobblehead dolls, those dreams included owning a business. He was a sales manager at Marcan five years ago, and so he went back to the company with his co-investors and made an offer. Marcan had a loyal customer base and, more important, the potential to grow, Mazzuca said.

Expanding services: Marcan specializes in duplicating CDs and DVDs, which are often used as promotional and marketing materials for businesses. It doesn't handle small jobs for consumers. Mazzuca said he plans to move the company to larger space in Redmond this month and begin offering new services.

One-stop shop: Duplicating a disc is just part of the process. Mazzuca said Marcan plans to expand to control the entire process, including scanning materials, packaging the discs, boxing them up and shipping out the finished product. "We're providing this one tiny piece," he said. "We want to provide all these pieces."

Whither the shiny disc? Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has said that DVDs will be obsolete in 10 years. If that's true, what happens to Marcan? Mazzuca said he is prepared for the eventual technology shift. But right now, health-care companies and publicly traded companies will likely use CDs or DVDs to meet new reporting requirements mandated by the federal government, he said. "As long as those requirements are in place," he said, "these are going to be a key part of our everyday life." Microsoft, incidentally, is a customer, along with Boeing, Paccar and Philips Medical Systems.

— Kim Peterson