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Brett has grown Bazaarvoice exponentially since its inception in 2005, positioning Bazaarvoice as a leader in the burgeoning social commerce industry. A seasoned executive, Brett has a history of turning groundbreaking ideas into leading businesses, as he previously founded Coremetrics and grew it into a leading worldwide web analytics firm.

He started programming when he was seven years old, launched a BBS on a 110-baud modem when he was ten, and created one of the first Internet-based multiplayer games in 1990. Brett holds an MBA in High-Tech Entrepreneurship from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BBA in Management Information Systems from the University of Texas at Austin.
Brett is one of the few, the proud – a native Austinite. Outside of Bazaarvoice, his biggest project is raising Rachel, his beautiful daughter, with Debra, his wonderful wife. He also enjoys spending time with their sometimes insane miniature pinscher, Onyx, and reading AlwaysOn, Business Week, Wired, and almost anything written by Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, or Neal Stephenson (except for the Baroque Cycle… sorry, Neal).
His interests are Internet marketing, data mining and warehousing, business intelligence, ASP business models, analytics, eCommerce, word-of-mouth marketing, blogging, consumer/user-generated content, social media, social commerce.

I’m thrilled and humbled to announce that we were named Austin’s Best Place to Work!  The full article in the Austin Business Journal (ABJ) is here (and you can watch my acceptance speech here).  It’s our third year on the list of best medium-sized companies to work for, and this year we are

Bazaarvoice CEO Brett Hurt Sets Example for Entrepreneurship  

In late 2008 I interviewed Bazaarvoice CEO Brett Hurt for a series on my blog titled the "Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship Project".  He was gratious with his time and answers.
Recently Brett won both the 2009 Austin Under 40 Award and  the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.  He is a great example of the entrepreneurial spirit that makes Austin great.
 
Here is the interview from last year:
 
I am not sure that anyone could properly "Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship" and not highlight Brett Hurt and Bazaarvoice. The company is one of the most talked about and fastest growing in Austin. Beyond their leadership position in helping large companies / brands understand and utilize the best of social media conversations to drive business, it is just a cool place to work.
 
echnologies enable consumers to write product reviews and contribute user-generated content on leading e-commerce websites, helping build online sales using authentic customer opinions. They bring the power of social commerce to the world's best brands. Social commerce happens when you connect customers to one another in ways that drive measurable results to your business.     Bazaarvoice t
 
 
I asked Brett to answer a few questions about culture, entrepreneurship and Austin:
Thom:What is it that makes Bazaarvoice special?
 
Brett:The executive team really focuses on our culture. And I really mean “focus” – actions not words. I spearhead that focus as our CEO and our head of HR calls me the “Chief Culture Guide”. Since the inception of our company, we spend 20-25% (3-4 hours) of our executive team quarterly strategy meeting discussing culture. Our best brainstorms have come out of thesefierce conversations.
I take culture very seriously for three primary reasons. First, I believe it leads to better performance – it can be measured in our client renewal rate, which is critical as an ASP (or SaaS) business, as well as our win-rate versus competition. Second, it makes it more fun for all us – including me. I sometimes pinch myself when I wake up in the morning; I truly love my job and the Bazaarvoice team. It is very humbling to see our team embrace the culture.

Bazaarvoice

I have several friends who work for this company, and everyone of them raves about the technology, the opportunity, and the culture. Serial entrepreneur and CEO Brett Hurt is the c0-founder of the company and a man who is passionate about building more than just a company.... he is crazy about the culture.

Seth Greenberg,
Director,

Sean McDonald,
Director Global Online Community,

Simon Rodrigue,
Sr. Manager eCommerce,