Newsmakers

On Track

Perhaps it’s fitting that in this Olympic year, Morgan Stanley’s Kimberley Hatchett (MBA ’91) was named one of the “Top 100 Women Financial Advisers” by Barron’s (June 9, 2008). Of that group, Hatchett was one of five recognized for an ability “to help clients stay calm when volatility strikes.”

In 1984, Hatchett, then a student at the University of Virginia, went to the Olympic trials focused on securing a berth on the team as a 400-meter hurdler or high jumper, with a dream of winning a medal at the Los Angeles Games. But a hamstring injury during the trials forced her to put those aspirations aside. The drive that led her to excel in athletics had to be rechanneled into the private sector, a life change that brought her to HBS and eventually to the top of her chosen field, private-wealth management.

In these days of market turmoil, Hatchett helps her clients keep an even keel by meeting periodically with each one. “I give them a book that I put together especially for them,” she said. “It shows how each manager and the whole account has done; that helps the client feel organized and that everything is under control.”

Looking to the Majors

Merritt Paulson (MBA ’00), owner of the minor league Portland Beavers Triple-A baseball team and the United Soccer League’s Portland Timbers, is thinking about The Show. That’s an interesting development, since according to the Vancouver, Washington, Columbian (June 17, 2008), Paulson never really considered getting into the sports industry after he graduated from HBS. “To maximize return on investment, sports is a pretty tough area to do it,” acknowledged Paulson, who, like other Americans, carries in his wallet a few bills autographed by his dad, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (MBA ’70). “But I felt there were some pretty good opportunities in sports, and when you add the impact you can have on a community, it’s such a unique position.” In that regard, one Portland city council member said, “Everybody is favorably impressed by Merritt and his commitment to the city. You can’t put a dollar figure on that” (Portland Tribune, June 26, 2008).

Portland has only one major league franchise, basketball’s NBA Trail Blazers. But instead of adding a new team in the NFL, NHL, or MLB, Paulson thinks Portland-Vancouver, the 23rd-largest TV market in the country, is most suitable for a Major League Soccer franchise. “You’re talking about one of the best soccer markets in the country and bringing in a league that is really on the rise,” he said.

Squeeze Play

Dal LaMagna (MBA ’70) says he’s writing a memoir titled Failing to Get Ahead, the Washington Post (May 30, 2008) reported. “It’s pretty funny,” LaMagna said. “I learned from all my failures.” That would make him a learned man indeed. It seems LaMagna never met an offbeat scheme (drive-ins as discos) or gadget (square lasagna pans the length of lasagna noodles) that he didn’t like or want to turn into a start-up. He did hit it big with his Tweezerman tweezers, which he discovered on an electronic components assembly line and recast as an expensive, high-end beauty product.

That Tweezerman success has allowed LaMagna to bankroll other passions. He’s run for office (unsuccessfully) and dabbled in politics over the years but recently has become consumed with efforts to change American policy in Iraq. He has spent millions traveling to Iraq, lobbying Congress, and supporting antiwar media outlets.

LaMagna has mellowed with age, and the entrepreneurial fires burn a bit less ardently. But he was excited as he showed a reporter a recent purchase: a sort of miniature, electrified tennis racket. Brandishing the gizmo, he explained, “If there are mosquitoes in your room and you can’t reach them, you can swat them, and they get electrocuted.”

Seeing Things Others Don’t

The cover of Fortune magazine (June 9, 2008) didn’t pull any punches. Above a photo of Ken Heebner (MBA ’65), a banner headline screamed “America’s Hottest Investor,” and below that, the magazine declared, “With a 24% annual return over the past decade, this mad genius is arguably the best fund manager of our time.” A contrarian who likes to uncover and then make big bets on emerging trends invisible to everyone else, Heebner said he feels most confident “when everyone else thinks I’m nuts.” His Boston-based Capital Growth Management funds have recorded impressive results as he has moved in and out of stocks with an uncanny ability to anticipate their ups and downs amid the economy’s twists and turns. Said a colleague, “How do you explain genius? Ken just sees things others don’t.”

Say “Green Cheese”

All over America, shoeboxes full of print photos are gathering dust. But hard copy is not dead: There’s a growing demand for homemade picture books and scrapbooks whose pages people can design online themselves and fill with their own digital photos and snapshots. In a market that’s worth billions, CEO Jeff Housenbold (MBA ’96) of Shutterfly is battling giants such as Hewlett-Packard and Kodak as he seeks to carve out a high-quality, high-end niche. A 20-page, 12” x 12” book sells for about $54.

“We’d like to be a household name like Starbucks and Whole Foods,” Housenbold told Newsweek (June 2, 2008). Taking over as CEO in 2005, Housenbold has expanded the company’s product line and boosted revenues to $187 million last year.

Next up for Shutterfly is entering the social-networking realm, as it works to figure out appropriate ways for photos and memories to be shared. Newsweek noted that about three-quarters of Shutterfly’s customers are women because they typically serve as their families’ “chief memories officer.”