Brian Sharples, Co-Founder and CEO of HomeAway, photo courtesy of Ernst & Young

HomeAway’s CEO and Co-Founder Brian Sharples won the highly prestigious Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 Services Award.
The award recognized Sharples’ vision as an entrepreneur in discovering and creating a new marketplace for consumers to find vacation homes. HomeAway, based in Austin, is now the world’s largest vacation rental marketplace.
Sharples was honored at the Entrepreneur Of The Year gala in Palm Springs, Calif. Awards were given in nine additional categories. All Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners were selected by an independent panel of judges from 244 regional award recipients.
“Brian’s ability to first see an opportunity and then develop a successful business model in an industry that was relatively unheard of just 10 years ago is the mark of a true entrepreneur,” said Bryan Pearce, Americas Director, Entrepreneur Of The Year, Ernst & Young LLP, said in a news release. “He saw a gap in the market and build a world-class business to fill it.”
To read more about Sharples’ entrepreneurial journey, read this 2011 story in Silicon Hills News.