MIT President Charles M. Vest to witness latest in online restaurant ordering technology

SAN JOSE, June 24, 1998-- MIT President Charles M. Vest, during a visit to Palo Alto's Xerox Parc this Saturday, will deliver the keynote address at the MIT EntrepreneurFest '98. President Vest will also throw out the first pitch at the venture capitalist dunk tank and witness the newest innovations created by the prestigious school's West Coast contingency.

Online food ordering service Waiter.Com, which was co-founded by MIT graduates Craig Cohen '88 and Michael Adelberg '88, along with Shakil Chunawala '93 and Alan Foonberg '85, will be demonstrating real-time online ordering. The pioneer online food ordering site, one of 14 innovative companies showcased at the EntrepreneurFest, went live in 1995 with 60 Silicon Valley restaurants and today contains over 1300 nationwide. 

The EntrepreneurFest '98 is being organized by the MIT Club of Northern California. According to President Vest, the impact of MIT's education and research resources are most "dramatically demonstrated by the talented and thoughtful efforts of the community of alumni/ae entrepreneurs in northern California."

Local MIT founders of companies include Steve Kirsch '78 of Infoseek, Suhas Patil '70 of Cirrus Logic and Paul Cook '47 of Raychem. Entrepreneurial companies demonstrating at EntrepreneurFest along with Waiter.Com include Anubuis Inc., Frequency Technology, Inteletech, Latitude Communications, Micro Display Corp., Netmosphere, PocketScience Inc., SNAP Technologies, StockMaster, Symphony Systems, Viewpoint, Virage, and Virtual Ink.

"Through their knowledge and creativity, MIT graduates fuel not only the engines of economic growth and development today, but also the design and entrepreneurial energy for the new engines yet to be ignited over the next 100 years," said President Vest.

A recent study by the BankBoston Economics Department, "MIT: The Impact of Innovation," examined the economic impact of companies founded by MIT alumni and alumnae. The study notes, "If the companies founded by MIT graduates and faculty formed an independent nation, the revenues produced by the companies would make it the 24th largest economy in the world." According to the study, MIT graduates have founded 4,000 companies, creating 1.1 million jobs worldwide and generating annual sales of $232 billion. 

"Waiter.Com is very excited to have been selected to demonstrate at MIT's EntrepreneurFest," said Waiter.Com President and CEO Craig Cohen. "It's no accident that all 4 of our founding team hold MIT degrees. Our MIT background trained us well for engineering-oriented problem solving, while giving us the confidence to pursue the inherit risk of starting our own business."

Waiter.Com, the premier online ordering service for the hungry web surfer, will celebrate one million dollars in online food sales this month.

The service's real-time restaurant ordering, online menus, and personalized MyWaiter start page increase ordering speed and accuracy while providing an alternative to long restaurant lines and telephone ordering.

Waiter.Com features popular restaurant concepts including Chili's Grill & Bar, Boston Market, Round Table Pizza, World Wrapps, TOGO'S Eatery, Domino's Pizza, The Olive Garden and California Pizza Kitchen, in addition to local favorites offering varied cuisines such as Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Mexican and Indian.

Access Waiter.Com on the Internet at http://waiter.com