ADVISORY/ Get the Inside Track On the Next Akamai...; Student Entrepreneurs Make 60-Second Pitch For MIT $50K.

Business/Technology/Education Editors

ADVISORY...for Tuesday (March 7)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2000

What:    MIT $50K Entrepreneurship Competition Semi-finals

When:    Tuesday, March 7, 2000, 7:30 PM

Where:   MIT Sloan School of Management's Wong Auditorium
         70 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
         Building E51, enter at corner of Amherst and Wadsworth

Entrepreneurs-to-be from across the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's five schools, will gather on March 7 at 7:30 pm to each give a 60-second business presentation with the hopes of capturing a piece of the MIT $50K Competition's pie. These teams, selected from a field of 206 entrants, will each have one minute to present before venture capitalists, successful entrepreneurs, judges, and competition alumni. After their 60-second presentation, teams will develop and submit detailed business plans. Final awards will be held on May 10.

The MIT $50K Entrepreneurship Competition allows students to hone their business skills and refine their plans to launch their own companies. Past entrants of the $50K Competition include successful start-ups such as Akamai Technologies, Direct Hit Technologies (acquired by Ask Jeeves in February), Firefly Network, Lexicus (acquired by Motorola), Sensable Technologies, Webline Communications, Stylus Innovation (acquired by Artisoft), Silicon Spice, and Flash Communications (acquired by Microsoft). MIT is known as a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship having spawned 4,000 companies. MIT's unique combination of world class science and engineering and MIT Sloan School of Management leadership has provided students with the edge to launch successful companies in today's technological marketplace.

The MIT $50K Entrepreneurship Competition is the world leader among university-based business plan competitions, and is described by Inc. Magazine as the business plan competition that is "more equal than all the others." The mission of the program is to produce tomorrow's leading firms. In its 11-year history, it has facilitated the birth of over 40 companies with over $20 billion dollars in aggregate market value and created over 1000 jobs.

The semi-finals will feature a talk by Michael Cassidy, Founder of Direct Hit (1998 winner) and Stylus Innovation (1991 winner). Following Cassidy's talk, the presentations will begin. The presentations will be followed by a reception where the press and public can meet the teams entering the competition.

Pre-event reception from 5:30-7:15, MIT Faculty Club, 50 Memorial Dr. Media invited with RSVP to [e-mail]