For many, the hunt for a meaningful gift often ends in the same place: scrolling endlessly through Amazon or sifting past walls of sponsored ads on Google. Wisconsin School of Business alum Tad Milbourn (BBA ’06), entrepreneur and lifelong advocate for small businesses, believes that the “easy choice” does not have to be the default one. His newest venture, GiftBlazer, is changing how people discover local products and give unique, one-of-a-kind gifts – all while supporting the small businesses in their community.
“I didn’t always think of myself as an entrepreneur, but my default inclination toward fixing problems led me to act entrepreneurially.”
Tad’s entrepreneurial path began long before college. In middle school, he taught himself to build websites and soon found himself designing sites for neighborhood shops, restaurants, and parks.
At UW-Madison, he continued nurturing that curiosity. He gravitated toward entrepreneurship courses, especially those focused on creativity and venture design. He highlights and recalls a class with Professor Jon Eckhardt where each student had to develop a business idea based on the same technology. The outcome was that every idea was completely different. “The class showed me how the same information can spark countless unique directions,” he says. “That fascinated me.”
After graduation, Tad joined Intuit, where he encountered a principle that would shape every venture he built: get into your customer’s shoes. “Directly observing a customer’s problem and then using that insight to make a small change in a product used by millions of small businesses – that’s incredibly exciting.” Tad carried this mindset into a venture-backed startup he founded, Payable, a contractor payment platform acquired by Stripe in 2017.
In 2020, Tad founded RankedVote, a ranked-choice voting app used by millions including the Portland Trail Blazers and the City of Madison. Its goal is to popularize election reform by making it easy to run contests online. “I love using entrepreneurship as a tool to foster positive change.”
Now in 2025, Tad’s latest venture, GiftBlazer, was born with a mix of personal experience and emerging industry shifts. After working for years in the technology sector, Tad noticed the rapid increase and interest in AI and saw an opportunity to create a tool that could help local businesses grow instead of being left behind in the latest technological shift.
“GiftBlazer is a place where the little guys win because they are the only ones allowed to play,” Tad explains. The platform functions as a search engine for unique gifts from local stores, giving shoppers a fast, curated, and visually engaging way to find thoughtful items for their loved ones.
AI plays a central role. “With AI, I can put decision-making into code and do things on behalf of the store.” This means that local shops do not have to manage the listing themselves; GiftBlazer automatically finds products, identifies those that match the shopper’s interest, and keeps the catalog up to date.
“The shops don’t do any of the work,” he emphasizes. “The whole purpose is to make supporting small businesses both simple and enjoyable for both the shoppers and the stores.”
This fall, GiftBlazer partnered with Destination Madison to power the Very Merry Madison Gift Guide, changing the guide from a list of text links into a transformative shoppable experience. “It’s the perfect match,” Tad says. “Destination Madison supports local economic growth, and GiftBlazer gives people a way to directly shop local that is more accessible.”
After 15 years in Silicon Valley, Tad moved back to Madison to be closer to family. He was struck by how much the startup ecosystem at UW-Madison has evolved and is excited to be back contributing to his alma mater. Currently, he volunteers as a mentor with Merlin Mentors and supports the Madworks Accelerator cohorts.
“There is so much more available to UW students now than there was 20 years ago,” Tad notes. His advice to the students? “Shoot for the moon!”
GiftBlazer is currently live in Madison, with plans to expand nationwide in 2026. But, in the meantime, you can use it to find great Wisconsin souvenirs or even an unexpected white elephant gift.
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