[February 14, 2005] El Dorado Ventures Names Larry Abramson ''Entrepreneur of the Year''; Former CEO of Appshop Honored for Leading Company to Profitability Tweet MENLO PARK, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Feb. 14, 2005 -- El Dorado Ventures, an entrepreneur-focused early-stage venture capital firm, today named Larry Abramson the winner of El Dorado Ventures' 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year Award. El Dorado Ventures (EDV) proudly partners with many outstanding, visionary entrepreneurs to help them build the next generation of great technology companies. Each year, the firm recognizes one or more of these entrepreneurs for their outstanding efforts by naming them "Entrepreneur of the Year." For 2004, El Dorado Ventures presents its Entrepreneur of the Year Award to Larry Abramson. Larry is currently serving as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Marketing for USi (www.usi.net), a leading enterprise application service provider. Previously, he was CEO of Appshop, an EDV portfolio company acquired by USi in 2004. Appshop is a leading provider of application outsourcing and professional services for the complete Oracle applications lifecycle. "Larry did a great job at Appshop," says Shanda Bahles, an EDV General Partner and former member of Appshop's board of directors. "He reduced expenses dramatically while acquiring new customers and maintaining overall product quality. Appshop became profitable in its last independent quarter before the acquisition," she added. "I'm honored to win this award from El Dorado Ventures, particularly considering the caliber of entrepreneurs who have won it before," said Abramson. "It's been fun working with EDV. They have great, experienced people who provide valuable counsel but who ultimately trust management and allow them to do their jobs." He added: "I consider El Dorado Ventures to be the platinum standard in Silicon Valley. If I were to start another company, the first partner I would reach out to is El Dorado Ventures. They should be the first choice of any entrepreneur looking for venture capital." Past winners of the El Dorado Ventures Entrepreneur of the Year Award include 2002 winner Scott Potter, former CEO of Quiver, an enterprise search company acquired by Yahoo/Inktomi; 2001 winners Shekhar Mandal, Rafat Pirzada, Alnoor Shivji and Sunil Tomar of Cyras Systems, Inc., which was acquired by Ciena Corp. in 2001 for $2.6 billion; and 2000 winners Mark Cree and Clint Jurgens of NuSpeed Internet Systems, which was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2000 for $463 million. The complete list of winners includes: -0- *T 2004: Larry Abramson, Appshop/USi 2002: Scott Potter, Quiver 2001: Shekhar Mandal, Rafat Pirzada, Alnoor Shivji and Sunil Tomar, Cyras Systems 2000: Mark U. Cree and W. Clinton Jurgens, NuSpeed Internet Systems 1999: Mark A. Floyd, Efficient Networks 1998: Marketta Silvera, Pilot Network Services 1997: Sky D. Dayton, EarthLink 1996: Thomas Keffer, Rogue Wave Software 1995: John M. Cioffi, Amati Communications 1994: Kenneth C. Gardner, ReportSmith 1993: W. Arthur Huskey, Security Control Systems 1992: David R. Coelho, Vantage Analysis Systems 1991: Kenneth B. Plumlee, Access Health 1990: Miklos B. Korodi, Cellular Data 1989: Robert F. Graham, Novellus Systems *T About El Dorado Ventures El Dorado Ventures (EDV) is an entrepreneur-focused early-stage venture capital firm with an 18-year track record of success, including early investments in Cyras Systems, EarthLink, Efficient Networks, Novellus and NuSpeed Internet Systems. Numerous EDV portfolio companies have gone public or been acquired by major technology companies including Ciena, Cisco Systems, nVidia, Siemens, Texas Instruments and Yahoo/Inktomi. Entrepreneurs see EDV as a trusted investment partner that shares their vision and plays an active role in their success. More information is available at www.eldorado.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]