• Thursday, April 24, 2008

What is a business model? Is it how a company makes money, how it creates value, or what its overall strategy is? Furthermore, what is an effective business model? At this event, entrepreneurs and business owners will learn why sound models are relevant and important to their ventures. Speakers will include entrepreneurs who have successful and innovative business models, and experts who will present strategies and frameworks for building sound ones.

Topics to be covered at this event include:
• How the term business model is often defined
• Characteristics of a sound business model
• A specific framework for communicating a company's business model

Speakers

Cary Chessick (JD '91)
Cary is President and CEO of Restaurant.com. Through his leadership, the company has grown to become the nation's premier online restaurant gift certificate savings provider for diners with more than 8,500 restaurants across the country. In 1999, he helped raise money to launch Restaurant.com - two years later he introduced the current business for restaurant gift certificate sales, and in 2006 launched online restaurant reservations. Today he oversees Restaurant.com's workforce of more than 150 employees, and is a two-time finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. Restaurant.com has been featured by Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Wall Street Journal and on networks in more than 30 U.S. cities. Cary earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois, and his J.D. law degree from DePaul University.

Zafar Iqbal, Ph.D.
Zafar is an Associate Professor of Marketing at DePaul University's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. He is a multiple-award-winning teacher at the graduate, undergraduate, and executive level, teaching graduate level courses in new product development, developing business models, marketing strategy and management, and advanced marketing research and multivariate analysis. He is the author of business articles in the field of new product and service development which have appeared in various journals, and has worked as a marketing research and management consultant to various corporations. Zafar earned his Ph.D. in Marketing from the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh, his M.S. in Industrial Relations from Iowa State University, and his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Poona, India.

Eric Lefkofsky
Eric is President of Blue Media, LLC - a Chicago-based private equity and consulting firm focused on applying technology to service-oriented business models. Through Blue Media and its related subsidiaries, Eric plays an active role in consulting for or assisting in the management of several large technology firms, including InnerWorkings, Inc., Echo Global Logistics, Inc., MediaBank, LLC, and ThePoint, LLC. He was previously the COO of Halo Industries, Inc. - an NYSE listed company and the largest promotional products supplier in the world. Prior to Halo, Eric was the President and a founding member of Starbelly.com, which was sold to Halo Industries in May of 2000. Eric is on the Board of Directors of Children's Memorial Hospital, and is a Trustee of Steppenwolf Theatre. In addition, he is a Professor at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. Eric earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan, and received his Juris Doctor at University of Michigan Law School.

Ellen Malloy (LAS MS '93)
Ellen is the founder of Restaurant Intelligence Agency (R.I.A.), the internet's only searchable restaurant database designed specifically for the media. R.I.A. caters to the unique needs of food journalists while offering a place for restaurants to reach the media with current, accurate, and reliable information. Prior to R.I.A., Ellen was an independent restaurant publicist, serving some of the city's finest chefs and restaurants including Blackbird, Avec, and Michael Jordan's one sixtyblue. She also worked as a professional cook for Chef Micheal Kornick and Chef Jackie Pluton, and has a sommelier certificate and an Associates Degree in Culinary Arts. Prior to her work in the culinary field, Ellen served as Sales Manager of Lyric Opera of Chicago. Ellen is one of the founding members of Chicago's Green City Market and is currently the publicist of record for the organization. Ellen earned her master's degree from DePaul University, and a bachelor's degree from Indiana University.