Mobedshahi Hotel Group Selected as Early Stage Honor Roll Company for Harvard Business School Club Entrepreneur's Award

Business Wire, Jan 29, 2001

Business Editors

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 29, 2001

Conference Set For February 9, 2001 in New York City

Mobedshahi Hotel Group has been named as an Early Stage Honor Roll Company for the third annual Harvard Business School Club of New York America's Entrepreneur Award. The company will be recognized at a conference and dinner to be held February 9, 2001 at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in New York City.

The HBS Club's conference recognizes the companies and individuals who have demonstrated the resourcefulness and creativity that are the hallmarks of entrepreneurship. As part of the selection process, in addition to ten Finalists who are eligible for the overall title of America's Entrepreneur, the Club recognizes early stage companies who do not yet have the track record of the Finalists, but who exhibit the strong sense of vision and execution that will support their success.

      The Early Stage Honor Roll are:

    --  Applied Molecular
        Evolution, Inc.         William D. Huse, M.D., Ph.D.

    --  BlueBolt Networks       Lori Eichel, Founder

    --  Charitableway           W. Pete Mountanos, CEO

    --  HomeViewMedia.com       Richard A. Robbins, Chairman

    --  House of Bread          Sheila McCann, Founder

    --  Its About Time, Inc.    Laurie Kreindler, President

    --  Mobedshahi Hotel Group  Manou Mobedshahi, President

    --  Opal Financial Group    Abe Wellington, CEO

    --  Real Sports Magazine    Amy D. Love, Founder & Publisher

    --  Vencast                 Jeffrey Dyment, CEO

      Both Early Stage Honor Roll and Finalists were chosen from
nominations submitted to the Harvard Business School Club. (Nominees
did not have to be HBS alumni). The selection committee looked for
entrepreneurs who had succeeded in spite of obstacles or limited
resources, and evaluated both qualitative and quantitative factors.
"We had some exciting companies nominated for this award," said
Suzanna de Baca HBS '92, club vice-president, development and
conference co-chair. "It's always a challenge for the committee to
make the selections. This year's honorees are truly the best of the
best."

      This year's Finalists are:

    --  Ariba                   Keith Krach, CEO

    --  Broadcom Corporation    William J. Ruehle, CFO

    --  Calvert Group, Ltd.     Barbara J. Krumsiek, CEO

    --  Delray Farms, LLC       Constantine S. Mihas,
                                Stephan Kaluzny, Co-Founders

    --  Latina Media Ventures   Christy Haubegger, CEO

    --  Miller Paper            Barbara J. Miller, President

    --  Monster.com             Jeff Taylor, CEO

    --  Onlink Technologies     Cornell "Buck" French, Founder

    --  Petopia                 Andrea Reisman, Co-Founder

    --  zagat.com               Nina S. Zagat, Co-Founder

"We've seen a tremendous number of HBS graduates going into entrepreneurial ventures," says Harvard Business School Club President Ron Gerber, HBS '86, club president and conference co-chair. "In fact, HBS now has a first year course on entrepreneurial management that replaces the general management course. On average, every second year student takes two out of nine courses in entrepreneurial management and entrepreneurial finance. Our members will be very interested in talking to our Honor Roll companies at the conference."

In addition to traditional for-profit companies, this year's conference will recognize an outstanding example of the application of entrepreneurship in a non-profit environment, with the presentation of the HBS Club's Community Partners Entrepreneur Award to Kathy Giusti, founder of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.

The conference features exhibits by the ten Finalists, ten Honor Roll companies, workshops on entrepreneurship conducted by HBS professors and an awards dinner where the overall winner is announced. "This year's Finalists will be in great company," said Gerber. "Each of the last two conferences has drawn more than 400 business and financial leaders from the tri-state area, along with some of the most exciting figures in business."

Past winners have included David McCourt, CEO of RCN Corporation (1999 America's Entrepreneur), Steve Nicol, Co-founder Pumatech (2000 America's Entrepreneur). Top executives from The Boston Consulting Group, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Weiss Peck & Greer and Time Warner AOL will also be in attendance. Mark Walsh HBS '80, Chairman of VerticalNet, will give the keynote presentation at dinner.

The Harvard Business School Club of Greater New York (HBSC/NY) is the association of the more than 10,000 HBS alumni in the tri-state area. HBSC/NY seeks to further the professional development of its members, affiliates and guests through offering programs, services and opportunities that address the major business trends in New York, the U.S. and the world. Contact: Kate Workman 212/947-5544, admin@hbscny.org.