Erik Ginsberg keeps his company cooking.
President of Baltimore-based Let?s Dish!, an assisted meal preparation chain targeted at busy families, Ginsberg has helped take the business from its startup Timonium location in 2004 to nine stores stretching from Bel Air to Leesburg, Va.
Hard work and taking the risk to start his own company got Ginsberg to where he is today. Venturing out with partner Rick Corcoran, the duo ? and their wives ? worked around the clock for several months until the chain took off.
“You see all the research … and the No. 1 success factor for families is having a meal together each day,” said Ginsberg, 39. “I put myself totally behind the concept and thought it was the right idea at the right time.”
The company revolves around the idea of finding a way for families to have dinner together more often. At Let?s Dish!, people pick from a preselected, Maryland Heart Association Heart Healthy-approved menu. After choosing, customers are given all the ingredients and tools to prepare the meal ? up to a week?s worth ? and then take them home to cook, freeze or refrigerate.
This mission is near and dear to Ginsberg, who has three children, and makes family dinners with them and his wife a top priority.
“I wanted to create a small company, and I wanted it to be focused,” he said of his business that now employees about 300 workers.
Ginsberg graduated from the University of Chicago with a master?s degree in business administration and a law degree in 1993. Following school, he bounced around several firms before finding a niche in capital investment firms. It was in the financial world that Ginsberg met Corcoran, and in 2004, the pair elected to start Slate Venture Group.
Let?s Dish! serves as a backbone for Slate and enables Ginsberg and Corcoran to turn their attention to other potential investments.
“Erik is probably the best and smartest business partner I?ve ever had,” Corcoran said. “I particularly value his legal and financial skills, where he is much stronger than I am. And he has good judgment and is a very hard worker, two more qualities that I respect a great deal.”
ERIK GINSBERG
» First job: Camp counselor at 15 years old
» Education/credentials: Graduated from Brown University with a bachelor?s degree in history and international relations, and an MBA and law degree from the University of Chicago
» Daily e-mails received: 100
» Daily voicemails received: 15
» Favorite gadget: Treo
» Career objective: Grow other opportunities along with Let?s Dish!
» Essential Web sites: Letsdish.com, CNN.com, ESPN.com
» Hometown: East Chester, N.Y.
» Birth date: Oct. 9, 1967
» Original aspiration: Center fielder for the New York Mets.
» Sports/hobbies: Spending time with his three children and coaching them in sports
