Bagel to Cables - Carl Lender entrepreneur
Lynda Peeler

Originally from New Haven, Connecticut, Cal Lender often visited his grandmother who lived in the DiLido on Miami Beach and decided that the University of Miami would be his choice. After graduation he returned to Connecticut to work in his family's bagel bakery. One year later the bakery was sold and having sand in his shoes he came back to Florida where he believed work opportunity was better.

Once here he found a job selling fine shirts for Ike Behar. He worked very hard at this while nurturing a dream to have a business where he could go to work in the morning and spend the afternoon at the beach. Carl watched the lines out the door at the Rascal house and decided to open a bagel bakery next door to the Rascal House to" take the overflow". Before he ever opened his doors, Dave Samson stopped by and told him he would do anything he could to help him. Dave introduced him to all the condo presidents and over
the years Dave became a second father to Carl, being involved in many aspects of his life, from business to celebrating Chinese New Year with Carl and Elizabeth.

To the bagel bakery, Poppyseeds . . . The doors opened and dreams of the beach flew out the window. Carl says he didn't have a minute in seven years. He expanded the bakery to a restaurant and both were successful until the lines at the Rascal House diminished. He closed the doors and realized he had never had a "real job" on the outside.

Evaluating his life he knew he liked music and, after all, had been the Musical Director at the University of Miami. He landed a job at Digital Music Express (DMX) and sold systems that you and I might recognize as "elevator music". During this stint, he was wooed by TCI Cable Company, a longtime acquaintance from Poppyseeds. Here he used his condo contacts to sell cable on a bulk basis. He had several other offers in the interim, but opted
to work for Colony Cable in Hialeah. Being a nice Jewish boy who spoke no Spanish he found this to be one of the best work experiences of his life. He sold cable TV to businesses.

The business was bought out by a large company and Carl always preferred the smaller company with greater personal contact. He was hired by just such a company and he grew the clients from 5,000 to 8,000 in eighteen months. Once again, a giant swallowed
the small business and Carl moved on. This time to his present position which has the right creative opportunity, the size and manageability he has been seeking. Goldcoast Cable became Charter with a 7 million client base, but, the best part is Atlantic Broadband bought three areas, Miami Beach being one of them. Even with the large company and layers of decision-making, the infrastructure was left in place and everyone in Carl's office
was able to keep his/her job; invaluable expertise and experience. Carl has been given the Miami Beach area to run like as a small independent business. "The exciting challenge is to work with Miami's diverse market." said Lender, "We recently have added a Russian World station and are looking to add Portuguese." The fiber optic lines are active in Aventura, Miami Beach, Golden Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, and a line extends to South Miami.

The company is pioneering the first cable boxes that do not require phone connection, and are introducing HDTV, High definition TV 1700.

With this new venture, Carl still has time to be a husband to Elizabeth and father to Olivia, age 3, Carli 11, and Adam 10. We wish you the best in your unlimited success potential, and salute your entrepreneurial flair.



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