2004 Hat Trick Award

Dave Babson, Ken Romley, Mike Doernberg

Description

The entrepreneurial team of Mike Doernberg, Ken Romley and Dave Babson has been responsible for successfully developing and exiting three venture-backed technology companies since they started working together in 1991. The three companies - Burl Software, The Marathon Group and SmartPath – have generated over $50 million in shareholder value on capital investments of less than $10 million.

Reasons for winning the award

CED established this award to recognize individuals who have created three successful entrepreneurial exits. Mike Doernberg, Ken Romley and Dave Babson have done just that – leading three different companies to three successful exits over the past decade. The key to their repeated successes has been their ability to learn new businesses, identify opportunities, conceive of innovative approaches, and execute quickly and effectively.

Quote

“I feel a tremendous appreciation to CED not just for presenting us with this award but for providing the entrepreneurial support that helped us achieve the success that this award represents. Building successful companies is all about pulling together teams that can work towards a common vision. I would like to thank the CED for being part of our team, and helping us to make our visions a reality.” -- Dave Babson

History

The team was originally formed in 1991, when Dave Babson and Ken Romley, who met at Cornell University, founded Burl Software. After choosing to locate the company in North Carolina, they met Mike Doernberg through Ernst and Young’s entrepreneurial development services. Burl Software was backed by Intersouth and was acquired by Micro Focus in 1995. Burl’s flagship product, Revolve, went on to be the world’s leading Y2K tool generating over $100 million annually. Doernberg, Romley and Babson teamed up again at the Marathon Group, where they converted a traditional systems integrator into a regionally dominate Internet Professional Service company that provided e-business solutions for Wrangler, Volvo, RJR, Healthtex and other Fortune 500 companies. The Marathon Group was sold to MERANT in 1999. In their third venture, the three then navigated SmartPath into the market leader position for Marketing Resource Management (enterprise software designed to coordinate the marketing operations of global companies). The SmartPath MRM software is used to run the marketing operations of companies like Wyeth, National Geographic, Kohler, GSK, etc. SmartPath was acquired by DoubleClick (www.doubleclick.com) in 2004.

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