When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemon Crepes!
------------------------------------------------- Wharton Club of Northern California Event Calendar 10/11. [Berkeley-Social] " Wharton Sets Sail!" Reception at the Olympic Circle Sailing Club--SOLD OUT! 11/13. [SV-Lifelong Learning] Wharton Marketing Prof. Dave Reibstein--Save the Date! 11/18. [SF-Professional] Wharton Finance Prof. Jeremy Siegel--Save the Date! ------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************** WCNC Event: Entrepreneurial Success Story Assaf and Natalie Tarnopolsky, Metro Crepes "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemon Crepes!" Thursday, October 23, 2003 One Sansome, San Francisco--The Citigroup Center Phone: 415-217-7060 6:00pm Networking, Drinks, All-you-can-eat crepes 7:00pm Presentation Pre-event registration: $15, Wharton Club members, $25 non-member alumni (includes food and non-alcoholic drinks) by 5pm, Monday, 10/20/03 **********************************************************************
* How do you get started on an entrepreneurial venture?
* How do you develop a business plan, raise funds, develop a brand, hire the right people, get the right advice, and set up shop?
* Most importantly, how do you get customers to come (and come again)?
Hear the story of how Assaf and Natalie Tarnopolsky--both food lovers and members of Wharton's MBA Class of 2000--started and continue to grow their grab-and-go food concept, Metro Crepes. "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemon Crepes!" Assaf Tarnopolsky, Founder and CEO, Metro Crepes (WG and Lauder '00) and Natalie Tarnopolsky, Principal, Metro Crepes (WG '00) Former Wharton Graduate Association president, Assaf Tarnopolsky, moved to San Francisco during the heyday of the Internet bubble to head international development for the Industry Standard. Within a year, his company was facing bankruptcy. Undaunted, Assaf and his wife Natalie, also a Wharton grad, launched Metro Crepes, a chain that is an Americanized version of the French grab-and-go creperie. Soon the one-time new media titan was donning aprons, cracking 300 eggs at five every morning and peddling crepes out of a kiosk in a park--and he was loving every minute of it!
The media fell in love with the story of a Wharton couple and Internet refugees now selling crepes out of a cart. The Tarnopolskys were crowned as "The West Coast Crepe King and Queen" and were featured on Donahue, NPR, CNBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, The New York Times, Business 2.0 and The San Francisco Chronicle. They received multiple offers from venture capitalists and private equity firms; however, they decided to raise funds for expansion exclusively through friends and family. Launched in 2002, Metro Crepes is located at One Sansome in San Francisco's Citigroup Center, and plans are underway to open other locations in 2003.
Join Assaf and Natalie Tarnopolsky for a talk about how they started a food business and raised capital during one of the worst economic downturns in recent memory and in one of the most economically depressed regions. Assaf’s main advice to wannabe entrepreneurs: Do what you love--and just do it!
ASSAF TARNOPOLSKY, a life-long foodie with eclectic culinary tastes, traces his love for food to his mother's Argentine cooking and his bi-continental upbringing in Geneva and San Francisco. Assaf's earliest jobs involved food and customer service: selling orange juice at Stanford football games and preparing sandwiches at an upscale deli. In 1996, Assaf trail-blazed selling gourmet food online as VP of Sales for gourmetmarket.com. After receiving an MBA and International Business degree from Wharton, where he was also class president, and after a stint at the Industry Standard as head of international and business development and sales, Assaf returned to his passions-food, customer service and entrepreneurship. NATALIE TARNOPOLSKY also received her Wharton MBA in 2000. While not at her "day job," Natalie plays a key role at Metro Crepes, doing everything from reviewing marketing materials and taste-testing new menu items to analyzing purchasing trends and developing operational standards. Natalie says, "In this little venture, we’ve used everything we learned at Wharton!" RSVP Pre-event registration: $15, Wharton Club members, $25 non-member alumni (includes food and non-alcoholic drinks) by 5pm, Monday, 10/20/03 $10 additional for walk-in registrations and registrations--if available--after 5:00pm, Monday, 10/20/03. Cancellations must be received by 5:00pm, Monday, 10/20/03.
Register for club membership or renew your membership on-line at:
Directions One Sansome (@ Sutter)--The Citigroup Center San Francisco, CA, 94104
In the heart of the Financial District.
Parking is tough, but eases up in the evening. Street parking is available, particularly south of Market, or at the Sutter Stockton Garage just 4 blocks away.
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