Alliance


The National Alumni Association of the UK launches "The Wharton INSEAD Network for Entrepreneurship (WINE)"
The Wharton INSEAD Network for Entrepreneurship (WINE) was launched in London on 3 October 2002. The event was hosted by 3i in their main conference room. It was very successful, with a long waiting list of people who would have liked to attend if there had been more space available. This strong interest reinforces the need for such a network. WINE members represent three key roles, that of investors, entrepreneurs and knowledge alumni. While the first two are self explanatory, knowledge alumni represent alumni who have an interest in entrepreneurship, but at present do not
have the wherewithal to be full-time entrepreneurs or investors on a large scale.


The knowledge alumni provide a unique knowledge base and service to entrepreneurs and investors. WINE will work actively to bring these groups together.

* 80 alumni attended this launch event. The group represented a balanced mix of existing and budding entrepreneurs (45%), venture capitalists and investors (20%), and knowledge alumni (25%), with 5% not specifically falling into any of these three categories.

* The event featured keynote speeches and a panel of distinguished entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who facilitated break-out discussions amongst participants, where they shared key obstacles and problems faced by entrepreneurs, as well as how WINE could create value for its members.

Introductions and keynote speeches were given by Patrick Dunne, Director 3i, Jonathan Renfrew-Knight MBA '91D, President of the UK Alumni Association, Sandeep Sander MBA '86J, Chairman of WINE - the Wharton INSEAD Network for Entrepreneurship and Christoph Zott, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at INSEAD. Christoph Zott introduced the break-out sessions.
Sandeep Sander Christoph Zott

The panel moderators included some of our outstandingly successful alumni : Michele Appendino MBA '92J, Founder & Managing Director, NetPartners, Sebastian James MBA '91J, CEO, Longwall Holdings, William Kendall MBA '89D, CEO, Whole Earth Foods and Founder of Covent Garden Soup Company, Julie Meyer MBA '97D, CEO, Ariadne Capital and Founder of First Tuesday, Pietro Strada MBA '97J, Founder & Director, Arma Partners, Caroline Whitfield MBA '91D, CEO, RA Technology Partners, Yoav Kurtzbad, President of the Wharton Club and Director of Young Associates and Sir Paul Judge, Chairman, Wharton Board for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

After the break-out sessions the entire group voted via voting pads on the most important challenges for entrepreneurs at present and the need for the WINE initiative. The results were clear and to some extent surprising:

The present key problems are not just funding:
1. Problems in generating early sales
2. Lack of mentoring/coaching opportunities
3. Loneliness and riskiness of new venture
4. Credibility gap
5. Difficulty in raising money/Equity Gap

After the votes, Brian Larcombe, CEO of 3i, shared his experiences with venture funding, and talked about the importance of management quality and the entrepreneur's ability in any successful business. He highlighted important traits that make a successful entrepreneur, these including leadership, innovation, integrity and luck, also mentioning that the current downturn in the economy provides excellent investment opportunities, and drew a parallel with the recession in 92-94, which proved to be an excellent investment period.

The afternoon talks and discussions were followed up with networking at the London Eye, and dinner. Sir Paul Judge gave a dinner speech and shared his wisdom and experience with the audience. Sir Paul Judge led the £97m buy-out of Cadbury's food business, and sold it for £310m a few years later.

Click here to download the power point presentation

Future Events and plans.
WINE is planning to launch a database/website that will allow the community to share ideas, enable matchmaking and provide knowledge as well as facilitate communication.

The next network event is already scheduled for 25 February 2003, and details will soon be made available through INSEAD Alumni communications. We can now confirm that Haji-Ionnou Stelios, the founder of EasyJet will join and share his ideas on how to become a successful entrepreneur.

Further Information
The team co-ordinating for WINE is as follows:
Wine Steering Group:
Joav Kurtzberg, President of the Wharton Club in the UK
Jonathan Renfrew-Knight, MBA '91D, President of the UK Alumni Association
Patrick Dunne, Director, 3i
Sandeep Sander, MBA '86J, Chairman of WINE

The WINE committee includes so far:
Sandeep Sander, MBA '86J, Chairman
Agnes de Guzman, MBA '01D, Associate Director, Ariadne Capital
Sumit Sharma, MBA '01D, Manager Change Management, HSBC
James Otter, MBA '89D, Executive Director, Spectris Ltd.
Nikunj Shah, MBA '00D, Director, Norman Knights Limited

If you would like to join the network please contact Agnes de Guzman at Agnes@ariadnecapital.com

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor please contact Sandeep Sander at sandeep.sander@sanderman.com