Celebration of Entrepreneurial Life & Learning

On December 28th and 29th, 1999, there was a pause from the inexorable march toward the millennial change as nearly thirty past, present and would-be entrepreneurs gathered in the desert of the southwest for some collective introspection, inspiration, friendship, reflection, and more than just a little fun.

Donald G. Jones -- angel investor, mentor and entrepreneur, hosted the gathering.

Presenters included Ray Smith, Chairman of Rothschild North America and Bell Atlantic Ventures and former Chairman of Bell Atlantic; Vern Raburn, Chairman of Capstone MicroTurbine, formerly President of the Paul Allen Group and past President of Microsoft's Consumer Products division; William Sahlman, Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Harvard Business School; Jeff McKeever, Chairman/Founder MicroAge Corporation; Peter Stone, CDL, Chairman/Owner National Exchange Bank Holding Company; Bing Hu, Architect.

The event marked a unique opportunity to assemble the entrepreneurial, capital and educational communities in a friendly high-trust venue for the interchange of ideas and advice. For most of those in attendance, the gathering also provided a necessary respite from the relentless pace of the marketplace and an opportunity to share "war stories," interact with others in similar circumstances, and savor a bit of "desert oxygen."

Most of the attendees were founders of technology based startup entities, all of which were less than two years old. Each of these young entrepreneurs shared the common vision and passion that their venture, with the help of a little luck, some good advice, great partners, and lots of money, could become the next Akamai, or Inktomi or Amazon, and they would be the next Jeff Bezos.

Visit www.desertoxygen99.com to learn more about this extraordinary event.