UB School of Management to Offer Course on Starting a High-Tech Business

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Renowned entrepreneurs and venture capitalists from the world of e-business will teach a course on "High-Tech Startups" as part of the CEO-MBA series offered by the University at Buffalo School of Management.

The graduate-level course is being offered on a noncredit basis to members of the Buffalo business community who have an interest in learning how to launch or operate a high-tech business. The course also is being offered as a three-credit elective to students enrolled in the school's MBA programs.

The course will be held from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. May 14-18 in the Jacobs Executive Development Center, 672 Delaware Ave., Buffalo. Tuition for the course is $1,499 per person, with a limited number of seats available for members of the business community.

School of Management alumnus Ajit Pendse, founder and former CEO of eFusion, will deliver instruction. A resident of Beaverton, Ore., Pendse created the technology that enables users to simultaneously surf the Web and answer the phone using the same telephone line. He raised more than $50 million in venture capital to launch eFusion in 1996 and sold it for $50 million last year to the ITXC Corp. of Princeton, N.J.

John Hannon, UB associate professor of organization and human resources and an expert on entrepreneurship, will team-teach the course with Pendse. Guest lecturers will include Lewis Mandell, dean, UB School of Management; George Chaumon, founder and chairman, Chek.com; David Straitiff, president and CEO, Syrinex Communications; Aymerik Renard, venture capitalist, France Telecom, and James C.D. Hengst, president, Zeptometrix.

"We've opened enrollment to area business people as an indication of the School of Management's desire to be a chief catalyst and resource for improving the business climate and economy of Buffalo," explains Mandell.

"This course will be very enlightening for anyone who's nurturing an idea for a high-tech business, or for established executives considering new opportunities in e-business for their organizations," he adds.

Topics to be covered in the course include the entrepreneurial mind, business plan and company formation, competitive positioning, financing and growth/evolution of a high-tech business.

UB's CEO-MBA series was created to give students the opportunity to learn from the expertise and experiences of top executives from a variety of industries. The program was initiated last year with a course in city economics taught by Buffalo Mayor Anthony Masiello and continued in January with a financial-services course taught by Malcolm Burnett, former CEO of HSBC.

For more information about "High-Tech Startups" or to register for the course, call 645-3200.