BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JUNE 5, 2000 ISSUE
BUSINESS WEEK E.BIZ -- PERSONALITIES Farhad Mohit Born Feb. 24, 1969, Tehran Education BS in math and computer science and BA in economics, UCLA, 1991; MBA in entrepreneurial management, Wharton School, 1996 Career While at Wharton, he dreamed up BizRate, a Web site that rates e-tailers and tracks down merchandise. He wrote the business plan as his master's thesis, then started the company in June, 1996, in his parents' home with the help of former classmate Henri Asseily, now BizRate's chief technology officer. Today Mohit is the chairman. Why he would just as soon not be the CEO ''My ego is attached to the business model and the vision, not to building a resume. Having a partner who understands how to get departments to work in sync frees me up to focus fully on the strategic side. That's what I do best.'' Defining childhood experience Fled the revolution in Iran with his family in 1978. Lived in France, England, and Northern California before settling in L.A. in 1984. ''I met a lot of different kinds of people, and the ones I liked most were not afraid to be themselves. I learned that individuality is a cool thing to have.'' First Web job Spent the summer of his MBA program designing a Web site for the Wharton Journal, for which he was a columnist. ''While everyone else was getting big internships at places like Goldman Sachs, I went to the Journal. They couldn't pay me, but I did it anyway so I could learn how to work the Web,'' he says. Business idol John Hagel, author of Net Worth, a book that sings the praises of Web ''infomediaries'' that help consumers sort out online surfing and spending opportunities. The book is required reading for BizRate employees and investors. Hobby Reading and writing poetry. Favorite poets are Jorge Luis Borges, e.e. cummings, and Persian poet Rumi, because ''his poetry is all about the joy of now, the ecstasy of living in the moment.'' Why he's unkempt Mohit wears tattered clothes and doesn't spend much time on grooming. ''I would feel uncomfortable if I blended into the crowd. I am a quirky, unique person. People don't forget me. I believe that's a service to the company,'' he says. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS E-Commerce Crusader RESUME: Farhad Mohit INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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