The Distinguished Entrepreneurs Lunch Program (DEL) is an unparalleled opportunity for students to immerse themselves into the world of innovation, startup, and entrepreneurship on campus. Each week, every Wednesday from 12:15-1:00 p.m., DEL brings together students through their lineup of speakers — impactful individuals with diverse backgrounds and career goals. These gatherings offer students the opportunity to interact with professionals in different fields and learn more about their journeys.
This semester, we witnessed an amazing set of entrepreneurs that brought crowds of students together. These gatherings offer students the opportunity to interact with professionals in different fields and in return they empower and inspire our students to make their mark on the world.
Starting off, we were excited and honored to have Toni Sikes, Co-Founder and CEO of CODAworx. Toni, a true badger alumnus, graduated from the Wisconsin School of Business with an MBA in Marketing. CODAworx focuses on creating a network of individuals that are interested in the art ecosystem. As an online leader, Toni is passionate about incorporating art into workplaces. Hearing her journey that was rooted in Madison was truly inspiring to our fellow students.
Aaron Olver, Managing Director of University Research Park was our next speaker. Aaron, a Badger alum, graduated from UW-Madison with a degree in Economics. From there he focused on helping the community and has never stopped. This is seen through his previous work such as Director of Economic Development and Real Estate Services and Development. Aaron is passionate about economic development initiatives to help Wisconsin thrive. He is the true definition of “community” and left a lasting impression among our students.
For our AI crowd, we welcomed Matt Younkle, Co-Founder and CEO of Pythonic Corporation. Graduating from UW-Madison with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, Matt dove into the startup world. As a serial entrepreneur, he has created ventures such as Murfie.com, a music streaming service, and invented TurboTap, a device that pours draft beet three times faster. Now, Matt has made his way into the AI space through Pythonic Corporation where it provides document processing solutions, revolutionizing computer systems. Hearing about his ventures highlighted what a wild adventure entrepreneurship can be and of what it means to be a startup creator.
To all our animal lovers, we were excited to have Dr. Scott Spaulding, Founder of the Mixed Animal Veterinary Associates North America, Inc. (MAVANA) and Former President & CEO of Badger Veterinary Hospital. Passionate in making a difference in the animal world, Scott created Vet24Seven, making the first veterinary medicine’s telehealth platform in 2010, gaining traction in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic where everything became remote. In addition, Scott founded Mixed Animal Veterinary Associates North America in 2010, with a goal to commit practices to all animals. His journey hit home for a lot of our students that consider their pets to be family.
Next up was Alex Kubicek, Co-Founder and CEO of Understory. After graduating with his Master of Science degree in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from UW-Madison and witnessing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Alex knew he could change the way people view natural disasters through informed data. Understory initiative was to focus on providing data using Dot weather sensors to measure signals that could indicate weather conditions. Alex has revolutionized technology in the weather space for individuals across the country. His journey was truly unique, including masterfully steering the company through a significant pivot transforming it from a technology-focused entity into a pioneering insurance company, and showed that students can create change in any way they see best.
Michael Zhang, Founder and CEO of Fenrici Brands stole the week through his innovative products. Originally starting his career with Procter and Gamble’s advertising division, Michael realized how he could create change and inspire awareness for families and their children suffering from rare pediatric diseases. Today, Fenrici Brands aims to inspire the spirit of resilience through its products, with stories, community, and passion. Recently Michael launched an accessible wheelchair backpack and all proceeds go to a national non-profit Global Genes. His commitment to these individuals is unwavering and greatly appreciated among our community.
Another Badger alumnus, Kate Ullsvik, Group Communications Manager at Intuit, came to share her experience in communication and product management. Graduating with her MBA degree in 2017 with a focus on brand management, Kate finds herself in the entrepreneurial mindset through her job at Intuit. As a Group Communications Manager, Kate is able to help their customers and communities to overcome financial barriers and challenges through TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, to name a few. Kate’s expertise when it comes to brand management was incredibly helpful for all our marketing students or those looking to be in that field.
We welcomed Jason Fields, President and CEO at Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) and he brought energy to our students through his expertise in business management. Starting his career in the financial service sector, Jason is passionate about investing. Starting as an investment advisor, Jason managed nearly 100 million in assets. Today, he has six books published to teach individuals how to manage their own finances. Currently, Jason represents the United States as a Senator of the World Business Angel Investment Forum (WBAF) in addition to him being the Founder and Managing Director of Dark Knight Capital Ventures. His passion and knowledge of the finance sector told students to start “investing” now for their future.
Next, Robert (Bob) Walker, Serial Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist and Physicist came to talk about his entrepreneurial journey. Graduating with a triple major in math, physics, and computer engineering from UW-Madison in 1984, Robert traveled all over the world with his work in the lighting industry. Throughout 2001-2004, he made his way back to the US to manage several serial ventures such as, LARQ — a UV-LED enabled self-cleaning water bottle. Now he is the CEO of BridgeLux that highlights LED lighting and technology and a Partner in Sierra Ventures, a private venture firm. Hearing how his passion has led him around the globe was truly inspiring.
And finally, we had Megan Hile, Founder of Madison Chocolate Company wrap up the luncheon series for the semester. Megan started her journey as a sales account manager for Mesocacoa. After a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, Megan’s world was turned upside down. Fortunately, with the support of her family visiting and offering her food in the hospital, Megan realized her passion for quality food and started a food revolution. In 2010 she created a food blog — Foodulation that focused on anti-inflammatory foods. From there, The Madison Chocolate Company was created. The Madison Chocolate Company is not only known for its sweet treats but functions on the belief that high quality food can heal people. Winning two Good Food Awards in 2019 and 2020, it is clear why the students loved hearing about her “sweet” journey!
We express our gratitude to these fellow entrepreneurs who have made a lasting impact on our program. Your contribution of time, expertise, and invaluable advice has empowered the lives of our students. We also extend our gratitude to Neider & Boucher, S.C. for sponsoring the Distinguished Entrepreneurs Lunch Program since Fall 2013. Your unwavering commitment to our program has contributed to the success of DEL. We are truly grateful for their continued support.
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