12/08/97 MATCHMAKER, FIND ME AN MBA

MATCHMAKER, FIND ME AN MBA

PUBLISHING TITANS SOFTBANK and International Data Group love to beat each other to the punch covering technology. But now Softbank, owner of PC Magazine, and IDG, publisher of Computerworld, are teaming up in the hot market in MBA recruitment.
Both companies' venture arms have invested in MBA Central, which uses E-mail and the Net for matchmaking. So far, some 175 companies have paid up to $2,000 for a list of candidates, who E-mail in resumes not knowing the employer's exact requirements. If there's a match, MBA Central notifies the job-seeker, 20,000 of whom have signed on.
In 1996, Softbank Technology Ventures staked $1 million on the Palo Alto (Calif.) startup. In a new round of financing in November, MBA Central brought in IDG Ventures, for about $1.5 million, and others. IDG Ventures' managing general partner, Patrick Kenealy, sees cross-selling potential in the marriage of MBA Central's database and IDG's mailing lists. So does Softbank. MBA Central CEO Jeffrey Hyman feared problems between the two, ''but if I had sensed an issue, I would have secured other funding.''
Jennifer Reingold
EDITED BY ROBERT McNATT