February 2000, Volume 68, Number 2

Spreadsheet One *Beyond Grey Pinstripes *Nothing But the Best *E-Buzz at Reunion Panels

Spreadsheet Two *New Ventures *Neale Scores a Win-Win *Brewing Up Dinner

Spreadsheet Three *New President for SBSAA *First Comes Love... *Business School Alums on Search Team

A Closer Look: Robert Loew A Closer Look: Laura Hattendorf and Ashley Boren For The Record: MBA Class of 1999 Employment Report

Spreadsheet Three New President for SBSAA John Peters leads alumni/ae JOHN PETERS, MBA '76, who began a one-year term as president of the Stanford Business School Alumni Association January 1, got an early start when he stood in for former SBSAA president Andy Garman at the reunion weekend in October. Peters, an executive vice president and general manager of Concentric Network Corp. of San Jose, Calif., has spent most of his career in communications and information services. His activities at the Business School have revolved around reunion planning. He has been a member of the SBSAA board since 1995 and most recently served as vice president of the board. First Comes Love... Illustration by Edd Patton ONCE UPON A TIME, late in 1998, Bain consultant Mark Vadon, MBA '97, was shopping for an engagement ring when he came upon the Web site of a diamond vendor in Seattle who had just the ring he was looking for. Within a year, Vadon had purchased both the ring and the company, a bricks-and-mortar jeweler with 25 years in the business. Vadon moved to Washington with his bride, obtained funding for his e-venture, and opened as a 10,000-gem online shopping site at www.bluenile.com. You could call it a sweetheart of a deal. Let it be said here that Blue Nile is the ultimate window shopping experience. Vadon and folks have set up a questionnaire that looks suspiciously like a GSB exercise in conjoint analysis: You select the color, clarity, and shape (round, pear, marquise, and so on), declare your price range, and decide what matters to you most—size, quality, or bang for the buck. If you're new to diamonds (they come in colors?), there's a buyers' guide and glossary. The collection is not limited to engagement rings but includes loose gems, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings as well. What's especially sweet about this Valentine tale is that Blue Nile is now Step One in the GSB online romantic experience. Once you select your ring at Blue Nile, you can register for wedding gifts at Della.com (founded by Jessica DiLullo Herrin and Jenny Lefcourt, both MBA Class of 2000), and find parenting support at Babycenter.com (founded by Matt Glickman and Mark Selcow, both MBA '93)—all without leaving the Internet or the alumni/ae net. Business School Alums on Search Teams James Ukropina, MBA '61, will head a search committee for a successor to Stanford President Gerhard Casper. Three other GSB alumni will serve on the committee: Robert M. Bass, MBA '74; Isaac Stein, MBA/JD '72; and Warren Lyons, MBA '72. Ukropina and Stein are members of the University's board of trustees; Bass is the board's chairman. Casper will step down on August 31. The committee hopes to make its recommendation for his replacement by June. Nominations, information, and advice can be sent to the search committee at search@ohpca.com. "It is imperative that we hear from a broad cross section of the Stanford community," said Ukropina.

QUOTABLE "When you go on the Net, you think you're visiting the Net. Actually, the Net is visiting you." WILLIAM LARSON, president, CEO, and chair of the security software company Network Associates, on privacy—or the lack of it—online. At reunion weekend in October.

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