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Alumni Entrepreneur Reunion
May 21, 2008
Ruth Owades
Breakout group: Partnering with Larger Companies (morning)
Ruth Owades is CEO of Owades Enterprises in San Francisco, a marketing enterprise that holds the rights to several patented consumer products. Prior to beginning Owades Enterprises, she founded and sold two earlier companies. In 1979, she launched Gardener's Eden, her first catalog featuring gardening tools and accessories. In 1988, she founded and served as CEO of Calyx & Corolla, the first fresh flower catalog and internet company. By eliminating the middlemen, her company made next-day, direct-from-the-grower delivery possible nationwide. Business Week magazine named her as a Best Entrepreneur in 1997 for "changing the way we buy flowers." Harvard Business School has used her first two companies as case studies. Owades has served on numerous corporate boards and has received many honors and awards for her business acumen.
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