Spreadsheet Two

Staying Power
REMEMBER company loyalty? At a time when five years' employment in one institution seems downright suspicious, it is refreshing to pay tribute to four faculty members who have exhibited extraordinary staying power. Retiring from the GSB after a combined 130 years of service are Charles Bonini, leading the crew with 40 years; Michael Ray with 32; and David Montgomery and William Sharpe, each with 29. Montgomery, who arrived at Stanford as a freshman in 1956, actually beat Bonini to campus by three years. However, after earning four degrees (BS, MBA, MS, and PhD) at the Farm, Montgomery left for four years to teach at MIT before taking his place on the Business School faculty in 1970.

Setting a Good Example
"I DON'T THINK SILICON Valley deserves the stingy label anymore," ethicist and philanthropy expert Kirk Hanson, MBA '71, told the San Jose Mercury News in June.

It seems as if ever since the news broke about the Entrepreneurs Foundation, brainchild of Gib Myers, MBA '66 (see the March 1998 issue of Stanford Business), Silicon Valley folk have started thinking of new ways to empty their pockets for the benefit of the community that filled them.

The latest new venture to surface should ease their way. It is the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2), chaired by Myers' venture capital colleague Kevin Fong, MBA '82, and Laura Arillaga, MBA '97. Rod Beckstrom, MBA '87, signed on early as a member of the steering committee. Like the Entrepreneurs Foundation, SV2 is aimed at introducing the younger generation of Valley professionals to the habit of investing talent, energy, and money in their community. And just to keep it all in the family, Peter Hero, MBA '66, a board member of Myers' foundation, is administering SV2 through the Community Foundation Silicon Valley, which Hero directs.

ACTion on Public Television
IN A WORLD of hundreds of commercial television channels, community TV can be a hard sell. Even its proponents, who extol the democratizing influence of a publicly controlled medium, may not be willing to sit down and watch hours of kiddy dance recitals and sewer board meetings or, as in the case of the 10-year-old public access station serving the Bay Area Peninsula, an endless loop of community announcements. With financial support from only 4 of the 11 cities it purported to serve, Peninsula TV was in understandably dire straits last year when it called on the Alumni Consulting Team (ACT) for help.

After eight months' study, team members Nancy Green, MBA '75, Seth Fearey, MBA '76, Kathryn Bowsher, MBA '91, and Mark Goldman, MBA '95, advised that the cable channel be taken out from under the management of the local community college's TV station, where it lacked a full-time director and a committed community-based staff of volunteers. "The college and the community had different agendas," says Fearey.

Original programming is key, he says, noting that when local producers excite community interest and involvement, the audience follows. "When public access is done well,"  he told a local newspaper, "it becomes part of the community."

Like other ACT volunteers, Fearey brought his own professional experience to bear on the problem. Fearey was a leader of Silicon Valley's Smart Valley Inc. and currently serves on the board of Cable Communications Cooperative, which provides cable and data services to Silicon Valley communities.

Illustration by Sarah Wilkins

Road Show for the Arts
IT'S AN OLD SHOW-BIZ tradition to take the show on the road, and that's what two organizational behavior professors are doing. Concerned that there's no business in show business, Joel Podolny of Stanford and James Phills of Yale have been offering seminars to arts organizations throughout the United States for the past three years.

The traveling workshops, which explore strategies for arts organizations to compete for increasingly limited resources, were originated by Nancy Sasser, MBA '76, president of National Arts Stabilization (NAS), a nonprofit based in Baltimore. Robert Augsberger, a former GSB lecturer in public management, is a board member and advisor to the group.

Podolny and Phills offer a three-day workshop to 40 or more participants — artistic and management executives, key board members, and senior staff — from the museums, playhouses, dance companies, and other arts groups in a single community. Using the case method, the traveling professors give a crash course in business fundamentals, with the mission, says Podolny, of helping the organizations increase their financial viability by making them more efficient.

The response has been enthusiastic, and Podolny and Phills have already scheduled workshops for cities from New York to Honolulu over the next year. Waiting in the wings is a new NAS seminar in change management.

For more information about NAS and its executive education workshops, browse its Web site at www.nationalarts.com.

PhDs Say Thanks to an Advocate
THEY DUSTED the pool table in the PhD lounge and cleaned up all the empty soda cans in honor of the occasion. The Business School's doctoral students gathered on a warm August afternoon to say thank you to Jonathan Bendor, professor of public policy and public management, who was stepping down after four years as director of the program.

During his tenure, the work of about 15 percent of the PhD students was rewarded with competitive national fellowships, and applications for students entering in 1999 rose to 630, the highest number in recent history. Bendor was also instrumental in the School's decision to institute a new financial support program for PhD students that increases the average annual stipend.

Evan Porteus, professor of management science and codirector of the Business School's executive program "Product Development and Manufacturing Strategy," succeeds Bendor as PhD program director.

New Ventures
GSB ALUMS ARE FOUNDING businesses as fast as we can report them. Here is a sample:

• Just in time for the holidays, BRAVOGIFTS came online with business gifts that range from flowers, chocolates, and personalized money clips to NFL tickets and week-long spa visits. And, if you're wondering what's the appropriate choice — anywhere — Bravogifts will advise you on gift-giving etiquette. Allyson Campa, MBA '91, is founder and president. Visit the store at www. bravogifts.com.
• EVE.COM offers 100 brands of cosmetics, a wide variety that includes traditional fragrances like Givenchy's Le De; lip gunk by Urban Decay in shades of "graffiti," "smog," and "oil slick;" and massage oils, facial masks, soaps, sunscreens, and every other potion known to woman. Mariam Naficy, MBA '98, is cofounder and copresident, and Mary Moon, MBA '96, is director of business development. Eve.com also has gifts for Adam at www.eve.com.
• GAZOONTITE is where you go after you say "gesundheit." Dust mites and fungi, beware: Soon-Chart Yu, MBA '93, has stocked his San Francisco store with allergen-fighting vacuum cleaners, air purifiers, and furnace filters, as well as hypoallergenic toys, blankets, and bedspring covers. Gazoontite's products are also available by catalog (1.888.4MY. NOSE) and Web (www.gazoontite.com), where you can chat with fellow sufferers or consult an online nurse.
• HANG introduces emerging artists to young professionals who want to buy — or rent — fine art at affordable prices. Shanna McBurney, MBA '91, opened this 5,000-square-foot gallery near Union Square, San Francisco, in 1998. Most of Hang's 100-plus paintings and sculptures sell for under $2,000; many are priced considerably lower. For a preview exhibit, consult www.hangart.com.