Stanford GSB: Stanford Business May 2000

FOUR OUT OF SIX PARTNERS of the new venture capital firm REDPOINT VENTURES, specializing in funding Internet startups, are Stanford Business School grads. Jeff Brody, MBA '86; Brad Jones, JD/MBA '81; and John Walecka, MBA '88, left Brentwood Associates to join Geoff Yang, MBA '85, formerly of Institutional Venture Partners, in the new company. The venture business has changed, they say. No longer is it simply about funding companies, it's about building market leaders in "Internet time." Redpoint promises industry expertise and contacts and the ability to "think big and move fast." Learn more at www.RedpointVentures.com.

Adam Boyden, Jorge Borbolla, Peter Kelly, and Adam Dawes, all MBA '99, introduced their business-to-business Internet marketplace and auction site for the used-car industry, AUTODAQ, last year. Dealerships and other businesses that traditionally buy cars through auctions can now shop the one-stop, 24-hour site at www.autodaq.com. The founders say they can halve the supply-chain costs of buying cars at a physical auction, which usually run about 10 percent of the cost of the car.

Founded by Marcos Galperin and Hernan Kazah, both MBA '99, MercadoLibre SA claims to be the leading Internet auction site in Latin America. With nine Stanford MBAs in its employ, the Spanish- and Portuguese-language Internet company is certainly one of Stanford's leading recruiters in South America. All nine ask you to check out the wares at MercadoLibre.com, where they will extend a hearty Bienvenidos or Bemvindos, as the case may be.

It Was a Good Year

IN GIFTS BEFITTING A 75th ANNIVERSARY YEAR, three alums said thanks for the memories and here's to the future by donating endowed professorships, bringing the Business School's total to 45.

The family foundation of Stephen Adams, MBA '62, donated the first of three Adams Distinguished Professorships in Management. The Adams Family Foundation was founded by Adams and his wife, Denise. Adams is chairman of Affinity Group Holdings of Ventura, Calif. Affinity includes brokerage, insurance, thrift and loan, and retail companies as well as the million-member Good Sam Club for recreational vehicle owners. Stephen Adams' son Kent is a graduate of the MBA Class of 1991. Economist Robert Wilson was named to the Adams chair.

David, MBA '85, and Ann Barlow established the David S. and Ann M. Barlow Professorship in Management. David Barlow has had a distinguished career in the pharmaceutical industry. He spearheaded the turnaround of the Armour Pharmaceutical Division of Rhône-Poulenc Rorer before joining Sepracor, where he was president of pharmaceuticals until he left in 1999. Political economist David Baron is first holder of the Barlow chair.

Jeff Skoll, MBA '95, is one of the youngest alumni/ae to give a major gift to Stanford University. Skoll, who only five years ago was editor of the student newspaper, the Reporter, became the first employee of the Internet auction company eBay not long after graduation. First recipient of the Jeffrey S. Skoll Professorship is Garth Saloner, who codirects the School's Center for Electronic Business and Commerce. Skoll recently pledged an additional gift to cofound the Center.

The gifts placed an exclamation point at the end of a record year in fundraising. The development office raised a total of $34.7 million in cash gifts during the last fiscal year, which ended August 31, 1999, breaking its previous record of $25.3 million set in 1996-97.

Illustration by Harry Campbell

WHEN ARIZONA DEMOCRATS went to the polls in March, many of them made history by casting their votes through the Internet. It was the first time a statewide election had ever been conducted in that manner. Political science professor David Brady sits on the board of Election.com, the Garden City, N.Y., company that made it all happen.

Brady sees the Internet as small-D democratizing the voting process by making the online ballot box available to people in their homes, in public libraries, and in other convenient locations. Just as important, he says, before voters make their decisions, the Net allows them access to detailed information about the candidates, such as just where and from whom they're getting their money.

Brady is not the only faculty member at the School to take an interest in this year's presidential election. Professor Edward Lazear, who, like Brady, is also a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, has joined several other Stanford faculty with ties to the Hoover in advising Republican hopeful George W. Bush. Lecturer Joel Hyatt stepped down from his position on the California Public Utilities Commission to head big-D Democratic fundraising on the West Coast. Hyatt is one of three national finance chairs of the party.

Spreadsheet Two