One colleague who insists on wearing suits all the time was convinced he would catch each of us in one before long. Last week he did, proving two things: that we are not against wearing of suits per se and that we have the good sense to dress for the occasion. This particular occasion was a trip to the Houses of Parliament.

We have approached a prominent public figure to take a place on our board as a non-executive director. The questions he asked are a measure of how the e-commerce environment has changed.

Almost immediately, he rattled off questions such as: "what are your revenue streams?" and: "how many customers do you need to move into profit?"

Six months ago, profit was almost considered a dirty word in the world of e-commerce. Now it is one of the first things people ask about. We impressed on him that Rools is a sustainable business and will eventually generate profits.

The atmosphere relaxed a little and our host gave us a quick summary of his involvement in internet businesses and went into what motivated him. To his credit, it seemed that he was getting involved because they are of interest to him, not based on the simple economics and who pays the most.

A brief interruption in the form of the division bell for a vote and we wrapped up the conversation.

The final point he made was that although the personal incentive to get involved would not be the deciding factor, there had to be enough of an incentive to make the devotion of time and energy worthwhile.

Trying to get celebrity endorsement has so far been only a marginally less exacting experience. Since William Shatner made a well-publicised second fortune through his involvement with US dot.com Priceline, celebrities have become very switched on to the potential upside of getting involved in the new economy.

A few days ago it was announced that David Beckham and Britney Spears were each going to be heavily involved in separate online ventures. We have been to see a couple of celebrity agents, in settings that are not quite as imposing as the House. These agents have been at least as commercially clued-up as any of our partners and in each case they wanted to gain a thorough understanding of the business. Their celebrity clients have very clear strategies and have put far more thought into the next five years and how they want to position themselves than either of us ever did for our careers. They have a further requirement, beyond enthusiasm for the business and the incentives it can offer. The business has to fit the professional and media profile they have built and are going to develop in the future.

For instance we know of one celebrity who plans to move from children's television to mainstream programming next year and is looking to get involved with e-commerce companies that will help support such a move.

All these meetings last week seemed to go well. Whatever comes out of them, they were certainly a colourful and welcome addition to the wide range of positive, negative and downright unusual experiences that we have had since we started this business.

• Adam Hamdy and Guy Mallison are the co-founders of Rools.com, a service that enables teenagers to buy online without a credit card.