Press Release: April 15, 2002

WR Hambrecht + Co Selects StarMine to Objectively Measure Research Analyst Performance

San Francisco, CA, April 15, 2002—WR Hambrecht + Co announced today that it has adopted StarMine Monitor for the internal evaluation of research analyst performance. StarMine, the leading provider of objective ratings of Wall Street securities analysts, tracks every earnings estimate and recommendation issued by sell-side analysts. WR Hambrecht + Co uses StarMine Monitor, a Web-based service, to measure the accuracy of their earnings estimates and the performance of their recommendations and to compare results to competitors on a daily basis.

Bill Hambrecht, Founder and CEO of WR Hambrecht + Co said, “Our adoption of an independent, third-party service to track and evaluate our performance helps us maintain and deliver the high-quality, untainted equity research that our customers demand.”

“In these times of heightened scrutiny of Wall Street analysts, there is strong momentum for regulations which will increase transparency of brokerage firms’ rating systems and of analyst past performance,” said Joe Gatto, Founder and CEO of StarMine. “WR Hambrecht + Co’s adoption of StarMine demonstrates its leadership and proactive commitment to such objective measurement of results.”

About StarMine

StarMine (www.StarMine.com) provides independent, objective ratings of Wall Street securities analysts by measuring them on their stock-picking performance and the accuracy of their earnings forecasts. StarMine provides institutional investors with a wealth of analyst-based research, including SmartEstimates (SM) – better earnings forecasts than the Wall Street consensus – which are derived by putting more weight on the most accurate analysts. StarMine’s success rate at predicting earnings surprises approaches 75 percent. StarMine is a licensed redistributor of Thomson Financial I/B/E/S and First Call data. A privately-held company founded in 1998, StarMine is based in San Francisco with offices in New York, Boston and Denver.

About WR Hambrecht + Co

WR Hambrecht + Co (www.wrhambrecht.com) is a financial services firm committed to using the Internet and auction process to level the playing field for investors and issuers. The firm’s impartial Internet-based auctions, which allow the market to determine pricing and allocation, are dramatically changing the financial services landscape. WR Hambrecht + Co provides underwriting and advisory services for technology and emerging growth companies, as well as equity research, sales and trading, full-service and online brokerage and private equity offerings for institutions and individuals. WR Hambrecht + Co has offices in San Francisco, New York, Boston and Philadelphia and is backed by industry leaders including: American Century, American Express, Crimson Ventures, epartners, Fidelity Ventures, Instinet Corporation, Novell, Park Avenue Equity Partners, LP, Scudder Technology Fund, Kemper Technology Fund and Texas Pacific Group.

Trademarks: StarMine is a registered trademark of StarMine Corporation.