From:                     Kendra Smith

Sent:                      Tuesday, April 04, 2000 8:28 PM

To:                         M?crosöft Research Tech Talk, Sem. Notice

Cc:                         Kendra Smith

Subject:                 UW-PEI: 4-6-2000 / High-Tech Entrepreneurship--Onvia.com

UW-PEI: 4-6-2000 / High-Tech Entrepreneurship--Onvia.com

 

For more information about the High-Tech series, call the Program in

Entrepreneurship and Innovation at (206) 685-9868 or visit our Web site at

http://depts.washington.edu/uwpei.

 

ONVIA.COM

Bill Ericson, Director

 

Northwest entrepreneurs--and their ability to put together innovative,

technology-intensive start-ups--have sparked amazing canges in your

world. The Program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation's High-Tech

Entrepreneurship Speaker Series is presenting the first speaker of Spring

Quarter this Thursday evening:  Bill Ericson, a director of

Onvia.com.  If you're interested in learning more about the leading

business-to-business e-marketplace for entrepreneurs, come listen!

 

Firm:                      ONVIA.com

         

Speaker:       BILL ERICSON, director, Onvia (www.onvia.com)

 

Date/Time:    Thursday, April 6th, at 6:30 pm.  Reception following.

 

Place:                     Seafirst Executive Education Center, Boeing Auditorium

 

Talk about vision!  Onvia.com is the number one destination for

entrepreneurs, providing  a targeted combination of products, services, and

information from one no-hassle, get-it-all-right-here site.  Launched in

Canada in 1996, Onvia moved into the Seattle marketplace in July 1997, and

has established key partnerships and alliances with AT&T Wireless,

Earthlink, America Online, BusinessWeek, U.S. Small Business

Administration--all designed, as Glenn Ballman (the firm's CEO) described

it, "to give entrepreneurs everything they need in one location.  Linking

out sites may be an easier model, but we rejected it because it doesn't help

customers use the Web to save time and money."  Even such experts as

Geoffrey Moore, the founder of the Chasm Group, think Onvia "will be tough

to catch."

 

Onvia.com provides more than 25,000 business products, services (including

Internet access, payroll services,  long-distance plans, and customer-lead

generation),  up-to-the-minute news, expert advice, and a request-for-quote

service that connects small buyers and sellers.  After earning revenues of

more than $25 million in 1999, Onvia.com launched a successful IPO on March

1, 2000 that resulted in an estimated gross profit of $180 million.

 

Bill Ericson, the former managing director and founder of Venture Law Group,

is one of Onvia.com's directors. A specialist in strategic alliances and

technology licensing, he focuses on e-commerce start-ups and Internet

infrastructure and services. In addition to serving on the board of Onvia,

he's helped a number of Seattle-based companies--including Corixa

Corporation, LoudEye Technologies, Metawave Communications, Rosetta

Inpharmatics and @Mobile--grow into highly successful firms. Ericson joined

Mohr, Davidow Ventures in February 2000 to open MDV's Seattle office.

 

We encourage you to be one of the many to join us this Thursday.  Take this

opportunity to learn about an Internet company that  Forbes.com rated "Best

of the Web."  We look forward to seeing you!

 

The High-Tech Entrepreneurship Speaker Series is made possible, in part,

by grants and funding from the Herbert B. Jones Foundation, the

Washington Research Foundation, and GrayCary, with support from the

UW Business School and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.