Jared Polis, the former owner of bluemountain.com, the highly successful online greeting card service, will speak at the CU-Boulder College of Business on April 25.
The popular Web site was sold to Excite@Home in 1999 for $780 million.
An entrepreneur who has founded and sold several technology companies, Polis will speak at an Entrepreneurship Industry Forum with two other entrepreneurs from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. in room 224 of the College of Business along Regent Drive on the Boulder campus. A reception will follow from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the College of Business lobby.
The talk is free and open to the public, but attendees must pre-register by 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 24, by calling (303) 492-1808 or in person at the Business Career Center, room 206, College of Business.
Polis, who serves on the Colorado State Board of Education, will speak about his experiences as an entrepreneur. He first ventured into business as a teenager by selling scrap metal to steel companies.
While in college, Polis started a Chicago Internet service company, which he sold in 1998 for $23 million. In 1971 Blue Mountain Arts was founded by Polis's parents and he created the Web site in 1996 as a forum for sharing poetry and emotions on the Internet.
The same year, he created an online floral business and in 1999 he founded a chocolate factory.
Two other presenters will join Polis on the panel of entrepreneurs. Cyd Szymanski, president of Colorado Natural Eggs, will speak about her business experience in the natural foods industry. Colorado Natural Eggs raises its chickens in a "free-roaming" environment, which creates all-natural eggs that are sold under the brand name Nest Fresh. Sales are expected to reach $3 million this year.
The third presenter is Joel Appel, president of Orange Glo International, maker of a household cleaning product. Orange Glo International was the fourth fastest growing company in the United States in 2000, according to INC. magazine.
The Entrepreneurship Industry Forum is sponsored by CU-Boulder Career Services, the College of Business's Business Career Center and the Colorado Entrepreneurs Organization. The organizations provide students with resources to build career management skills and gain entrepreneurial knowledge and insight.
For more information, call Cindy Scheopner at (303) 735-4970.