Johnson School Announces Big Idea Competition Winners

Piasek Biotech Takes $10K Price and Free Legal Services From ELS

April 14, 2004, Ithaca, New York The Johnson Graduate School of Management is pleased to announce the winners of the 2004 Big Idea Competition (BIC). Piasek Biotech, Inc., Fantasy Seats and Tetragenics took top honors in the Johnson School's BR Ventures-sponsored event. Designed to foster entrepreneurship throughout the extended Cornell community and to reward top business ideas, the BIC provides a way for individuals to take their first step toward turning an idea into a viable business.

"This year's BIC was an extraordinary adventure for so many applicants who are in the marketplace starving for seed money and legal help as well as some feedback and market attention," said Shriniwas Rao, BR Ventures Manager and primary organizer of the competition. BR Ventures is pleased to sponsor this event and we wish all good luck as they continue to try to further develop their product and get it to the marketplace."

One-hundred applicants rounded out the unique competition that was judged by Ralph Terkowitz of the Washington Post; Dan Simpkins of Hillcrest Communications; Jennifer Tegan of the Cayuga Venture Fund; Raj Alur of St. Paul Venture Capital, and Mark Brandt of The Maple Fund.

The 2004 winners are:
First Prize ($10,000 and 20 hours free legal service from ELS): Piasek Biotch, Inc. (PBI) PBI have developed Tetanox® (Tetanus toxin), a neurotoxin related to Botox® that is being developed as a pharmaceutical to increase activity in motor, autonomic or sensory nerves for up to 2 months. Its unique properties allow it to be used in an extremely wide variety of medical, lifestyle enhancement, and veterinary markets. Patent applications have been filed worldwide in major pharmaceutical markets.

Ira Sanders, owner of Piasek Biotech said, "As an entrepreneur I cannot stress enough what a great experience participating in the BIC 2004 competition has been. Directly due to my experience at BIC 2004 I have been invited to present this to some of the best venture capital groups in my industry.

Second Prize ($2,500): Fantasy Seats
Every year, postseason sports tickets sell-out immediately, leaving sports' truest fans with no other alternative than to pay hundreds over face value in the secondary market or watch the games on television. Fantasy Seats' revolutionary business model enables fans to attend postseason games at a fraction of the cost.

Third Prize ($1,000) Tetragenics
Producing a new technology for the large-scale production of recombinant proteins for use in human and animal medicine. This technology relies on the free-living ciliate, Tetrahymena thermophila, a unique system for high-level expression of genetically engineered proteins.

BR Ventures is a student operated early stage venture capital firm at the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University. The mission of the fund is to foster entrepreneurship throughout the Cornell community by identifying, supporting and adding value to entrepreneurs and funding high growth companies.

The Entrepreneurship Legal Services (ELS) Program provides affordable, professional quality legal services that are vital to the formation, operation, and eventual success of any start-up or emerging growth oriented business. Through ELS, Cornell Law students work under the direct supervision of attorneys experienced in the relevant fields of law that a start-up may encounter.

The Johnson School at Cornell University, founded in 1946, is Cornell's graduate school of management. The Johnson School combines leading edge intellectual capital with "real time, real world" business practice and is among the top business schools in the world. Distinctives include a wide variety of opportunities for experiential learning, such as immersion curricula and student-run venture capital and mutual funds. Programs include MBA and doctoral degrees, a twelve-month MBA option for students with advanced degrees in science or engineering, an executive MBA and a variety of customized executive education programs. The Johnson School is located at the center of Cornell University-the largest of the Ivy League schools and one of the world's top research institutions.

For More Information
Randall Sawyer
Public Relations Officer
607 255-8006
rs348@cornell.edu