Mindshare Technologies Named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist

Mindshare Technologies, the leading provider of real-time customer feedback solutions, today announced that the company and its founders, Richard D. Hanks and John R. Sperry, have been named as finalists for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year ® 2007 award in Utah. An independent panel composed of prominent Utah business leaders selected 25 finalists for the award. Each finalist was chosen on the basis of revenue growth, innovation, risk-taking, and personal commitment to the business and the community.

A leading candidate for the award, Mindshare recently passed its 50th consecutive month of revenue growth, completed its 10 millionth survey, and signed its 300th customer, many of whom rank among the Fortune 500. Mindshare has also experienced exceptional customer retention. The company credits this to its Voice of the Customer Solution, which helps companies improve their operations by incorporating precise and timely customer feedback, such as 'was a meal served hot enough', or 'were the bathrooms clean.'

"These finalists exemplify the outstanding business talent present in our community," said David Jolley, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year managing partner for the Utah region. "We are proud to honor them as leaders who nurture economic growth, innovation and the American dream."

Richard Hanks and John Sperry have diverse and impressive backgrounds:

Rich was an EVP and Corporate Officer at Marriott, where he led the marketing strategy, sales, distribution, and revenue management efforts for Marriott's 13 lodging brands, overseeing $18 billion in sales. Rich was named "The Leading Sales Innovator in the Lodging Industry," and led Marriott into the Internet era, prompting Bill Gates to refer to him as an "important Internet champion" in his book Business @ the Speed of Thought. Rich has worked for PepsiCo, Price Waterhouse, and was CEO of BlueStep, a successful software start-up. He is an author, sought after speaker, an adjunct professor at Cornell University, and was a member of the Board of the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research. He obtained his bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University and his MBA from Northwestern University.

"Being nominated for this award is a great honor for our company and acknowledges the hard work, personal commitment and smart decisions made by each of our team members," said Richard Hanks, president of Mindshare Technologies. "Mindshare has recently crossed some significant milestones and will continue to grow and deliver customer feedback solutions across a variety of industries."

While at BlueStep, Rich met John Sperry, who served as the company's CTO. John is a recognized expert at finding technology solutions to constrained business problems. While at BlueStep, he designed and implemented a collaborative web solution that was used by 30,000 people daily from the State of Utah to the University of Arizona. He has also worked for Sungard Data Systems as Senior Vice President of Technology. While at Sungard, he implemented large enterprise financial and CRM solutions for companies such as State Farm, Citibank, Bank of America, and others. Prior to Sungard, John was VP of Product Development for Sterling Wentworth. He has an MBA and Finance degrees from the University of Utah and Brigham Young University and is a visiting lecturer at Brigham Young University.

"Collaborating with Rich and the rest of the Mindshare leadership team has been one of the greatest achievements of my career," said John Sperry, CEO of Mindshare Technologies. "Mindshare is now the fastest growing customer feedback company in the world, delivering management tools that capture customer perceptions and transforms them into actionable customer intelligence." Entrepreneur of the Year Award winners will be announced June 7 at the Salt Palace Convention Center.