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Sprint Awards $200,000 to Finalists of Online Reality Show for a Second Chance at Small Business Success

^{Published on 2011-02-15 09:55:22 - Market Wire}
 

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced the conclusion of aSecond Chance,a a unique online reality show that began Oct. 26, 2010 with the goal of providing four small-business entrepreneurs a second chance at business success and an opportunity to win a grand prize of $150,000. Shot in New York, the series featured four contestants selected from a pool of more than 200 applicants to compete in various business-related challenges, including: business strategy, marketing and public relations, technology, building the right team, and creating a compelling aelevator pitch.a

"The deep insight provided by the judges is invaluable to all entrepreneurs wanting to get their businesses off to a momentous start. The value of the show exceeded all my expectations."

Set in the main board room of the New York Stock Exchange, the finale features the two final contestants, Dennis Bauer and Steve Wasnick, alongside host David S. Rose, and judges and angel investors Brian Cohen, president, iFluence PR, Bob Rice, author and early-stage investor, and Jeffrey Stewart, founder of Mimeo. In addition to being judged on their performance throughout the series, both contestants were given an opportunity to present their new businesses to the angel investors before deliberations began to select the grand-prize winner.

At the conclusion of the series Mr. Bauer was selected by the judges and angel investors as the $150,000 grand-prize winner for his new company, Design by Grace, which features a product called aThe Easy Sheet,a a fitted top-bed sheet that doesna™t come untucked, and includes expanded room for foot space. In addition to receiving a runner-up prize of $25,000 for his new company, WinningCause.org, a no-cost online auction site dedicated to serving non-profits, Mr. Wasnick also received the acommunity favoritea prize for an additional $25,000 as the entrepreneur who received the highest number of votes from the Business on Main community.

aIn addition to directly impacting the future achievements of our grand-prize and runner-up award winners, we were excited to see that the aSecond Chancea competition received such a tremendous response from the Business on Main community at large,a said Judith Train, Sprint vice president-Small Business. aSprint has always maintained a strong commitment to the small business and entrepreneur community and we are pleased to help foster discussion and the exchange of ideas around success and excellence within these unique groups.a

All six aSecond Chancea episodes are available for viewing on Sprinta™s Business on Main community at [ www.businessonmain.com ].

"While I certainly congratulate Dennis, it's the viewers of aSecond Chancea that are the real winners here,a Rose said. aThe deep insight provided by the judges is invaluable to all entrepreneurs wanting to get their businesses off to a momentous start. The value of the show exceeded all my expectations."

Sprint and its New York-based media agency, Mindshare, developed the aSecond Chancea Web series specifically for the Business on Main community. Business on Main, in partnership with Microsoft, is a site where small-business leaders come for inspiration and to be empowered for success. The site allows small-business owners to connect with achievers like themselves to collaborate, learn and share successes, and it delivers other valuable information specific to small businesses. The Business on Main community has grown in popularity and now serves approximately 500,000 users per month.

Chairman and chief executive officer of Angelsoft and an Inc. 500 CEO, Rose is best known for mentoring young entrepreneurs. He was named to the 2008 aSilicon Alley 100a and is a frequent speaker at business-school entrepreneurship programs. Rose founded and is chairman of New York Angels, an early-stage technology investment group, and is managing principal of Rose Tech Ventures, an early-stage venture fund. He also serves as chairman of Egret Capital Partners, a middle-market private-equity firm.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 49.9 million customers at the end of 2010 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 6 in its 2010 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nationa™s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at [ www.sprint.com ] or [ www.facebook.com/sprint ] and [ www.twitter.com/sprint ].

About Mindshare

Mindshare is a global media and marketing services network with billings in excess of $27.8 billion (source: RECMA). The network consists of 115 offices in 82 countries throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific, each dedicated to forging competitive marketing advantage for businesses and their brands. Mindshare is part of GroupM, which oversees the media investment management sector for WPP, the worlda™s leading communications services group.