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Distinguished Entrepreneurs Lunch Program

By PJ Hopkins

February 8, 2019

People listening to speaker at Distinguished Entrepreneurs Lunch Program

Chalk up another successful semester for the Distinguished Entrepreneurs Lunch Program at the Weinert Center! Now in its sixth year, the program brings accomplished entrepreneurs to Grainger Hall every Wednesday to share their stories with undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines alike.

This semester we heard from ten entrepreneurs involved in food, product design, marketing, wellness, and technology, to name a few! Even though there is great diversity in the end-market these entrepreneurs serve, students gain valuable insight from hearing all about their journeys. These distinguished entrepreneurs did a great job providing advice to students and, as usual, were happy to answer questions. We also hosted some early-stage investment firms who were able to shed light on what they look for when funding early-stage ventures.

Featured entrepreneurs for the Fall 2018 semester included:

Wednesday, September 12: Sam Rockwell, Justin Samuels and WaffleWaffle team

Wednesday, September 19: Todd Muderlak, Xela Innovations

Wednesday, September 26: Imran Aziz, Mavengo

Wednesday, October 10: Dale Nitschke, Ovative/group

Wednesday, October 17: Reena Vokoun, Passion Fit

Wednesday, October 24: Kevin Kraft, Wisconsin River Partners

Wednesday, October 31: Janet Loewi, Wisconsin Investment Partners

Wednesday, November 7: Max Fergus, Live Undiscovered Music

Wednesday, November 14: Mike Dowdle, Circadian Group

Wednesday, November 28: Ben Leff, Pluvio

The Distinguished Entrepreneurs Lunch Program is open to students from all disciplines across campus. We are grateful for all of our featured entrepreneurs who volunteered to talk to our students.

Listed below is our terrific lineup for the Distinguished Entrepreneurs Lunch Program in the Spring 2019 semester.

Wednesday, January 30: Ian Gurfield, Ian’s Pizza

Wednesday, February 6: Nic Mink, Sitka Salmon Shares

Wednesday, February 13: Frank Jimenez & Cindy Poiesz, Evolve Brands

Wednesday, February 20: Ane Ohm, LeaseCrunch

Wednesday, February 27: Hyunjun Park, CATALOG

Wednesday, March 6: Andrew Foster, FreshFin

Wednesday, March 27: Charlie Goff, NEW Capital Fund LP

Wednesday, April 3: Rachel Neill, Carex Consulting Group

Wednesday, April 10: John Ryan, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital

Wednesday, April 17: Scott Forester, Punchkick Interactive

We graciously thank Neider & Boucher, S.C. for their sponsorship and support of the Distinguished Entrepreneurs Lunch Program!


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