When only family and friends believed in IdeaPaint, a promising Massachussetts-based start-up, Ypsilanti's CAS-MI Laboratories gave them a shot at the big time.

Excerpt:

The young entrepreneurs refused to believe it. "Our joke was, if we could put a man on the moon, we can make dry-erase paint," says Newman, 25.

Then they found CAS-MI Laboratories in Ypsilanti, Mich., where the scientists were willing to give their plan a shot and even cover some of the development costs.

With the help of $1 million from family, friends and a few angel investors, the group spent the next four years fine-tuning their recipe.

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