Harvard Business School Entrepreneurship Club Announces 17th Annual Entrepreneurship Conference

Business Wire, Oct 11, 2000

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 11, 2000

The Entrepreneurship Club at Harvard Business School is proud to announce the 17th Annual Entrepreneurship Conference, "Build to Lead." The Conference will be held on Saturday, October 28, 2000 on the Harvard Business School campus. The Conference aims to provide valuable insights into entrepreneurship from a wide variety of industry experts, venture capitalists and distinguished entrepreneurs. Over 800 individuals from the HBS community and beyond are expected to attend. Keynote speakers will include David Perry (MBA '97), founder and CEO of Ventro; Guy Kawasaki, founder and CEO of Garage.com; and Peter Bell (MBA '93), founder and CEO of StorageNetworks.

This year's Conference has been designed to serve the growing and active participation by HBS graduates in entrepreneurial ventures. At this key networking event, students will have the opportunity to gain the knowledge, tools and contacts to take their business ideas to the next level. Towards this end, the Conference will include Venture Capitalist Instant Feedback Sessions where students will pitch their business concepts to seasoned venture capitalists. E-conference sponsors are McKinsey & Company, Goodwin, Procter & Hoar LLP and Battery Ventures. SiliconSpot, a network of investors, entrepreneurs, job seekers, professional service providers and universities will also be sponsoring a new program titled "Start-Up Spot" to expose students to the real world of start-up firms and service providers. Other sponsors include Garage.com, Sevin-Rosen Funds, Microsoft, IBM Extreme Blue, eLance and vCapital.

The influence of HBS is nowhere more apparent than through the accomplishments of the entrepreneurial leaders that have drawn upon their HBS experience to lead today's economy. This impact has shaped a wide variety of industries, ranging from retail to high technology. Prominent alumni include Thomas G. Stemberg (MBA '73), founder of Staples, Inc.; William G. McGowan (MBA '54), who transformed MCI into a leading telecommunications provider; and Scott Cook (MBA '76), founder of Intuit. The HBS entrepreneurship tradition continues today as evidenced by the MBA Class of 2000. According to a recent survey, over 33% of the 2000 graduating class went to work for companies with fewer than 100 employees and 12% have founded their own companies -- a significant increase from 2% in 1995.

The Entrepreneurship Club aims to provide a conduit by which students can access relevant entrepreneurial resources, network with prominent community entrepreneurs and share ideas. The Club is dedicated to fostering innovation in all business types, from small start-ups to established companies and is one of the largest student-run organizations on the HBS campus with total membership of over 500 students. Future events sponsored by the Club include the Young Presidents' Organization Conference, the Turnaround Symposium and the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.