Valiant Technology Group, a Richardson TX-based information technology staffing firm, announced a program called "ValiantBridge" to help its salespeople start their own firms. It takes 24 months for a person to become vested in the program, and salespeople must meet sales goals, according to the company. At the end, Valiant will work with the salesperson to start his or her own firm and assist with capitalization and marketing.

"We actually spent about six months in development on it prior to releasing it," said Valiant Technology CEO Lanny Morrow. "It's basically a business in a box." The program was rolled out earlier this year. So far, nobody has completed it, but there are people now working through the program, Morrow said.