When Jaxon Zemachson arrived at UW-Madison as a freshman, he quickly noticed a gap for students interested in sports business. Rather than simply recognizing the opportunity, he decided to do something about it. Now a senior studying entrepreneurship and marketing, Jaxon is the co-founder of the Wisconsin Sports Business Conference (WSBC), an organization that has brought hundreds of students, alumni, and industry executives together on campus.
Jaxon was inspired by the sports business conference at the University of Michigan, which brings together approximately 1,000 students each year. After coming to Wisconsin, he realized that “we are one of the only Big Ten universities without a sports business major” and saw an opportunity to bring a similar experience to Madison. With his partner, Devin Mehta, Jaxon built WSBC from the ground up, establishing a registered student organization and creating an alumni advisory board of approximately 12 industry professionals.
Since its launch, WSBC has hosted two conferences with approximately 550 attendees and more than 130 alumni and executives returning to campus. Speakers have included Adrian Wojnarowski, formerly of ESPN and now General Manager of St. Bonaventure University, Milwaukee Bucks President Josh Glessing, and NFL Hall of Famer and former Wisconsin player Joe Thomas. For Jaxon, the most rewarding part has been seeing the organization create an impact beyond the conference itself. “Being able to see the real-world results in WSBC actually affect campus and make an impact on campus is definitely the most valuable part and something I am extremely proud of,” he says.
His experience with WSBC has also helped him develop skills that he plans to carry into his career. “I think communication is key,” Jaxon says. Working with professionals and industry stakeholders has taught him how to communicate ideas clearly and concisely while building meaningful relationships.
Another UW-Madison experience played an unexpected role in shaping Jaxon’s entrepreneurial path. He took the Introduction to Entrepreneurship course as a sophomore and describes the course’s t-shirt project as “easily my favorite project of my school career.” While many students sold shirts to friends and family, Jaxon decided to take a different approach. He partnered with Fetch, a Madison-based company, and created a shirt celebrating the company’s Madison roots. The shirts were distributed to students on campus to help Fetch connect with a college-age audience.
“Because of the T-shirt project, I was able to treat it as a real-world project instead of just selling to friends and family,” Jaxon says. The project ultimately led to an internship with Fetch Co-Founder and CEO Wes Schroll, and the two are now building a startup together that Jaxon plans to work on after graduation.
As Jaxon prepares to graduate, he is also transitioning out of WSBC to allow a new group of students to lead the organization. The conference is planned to return in fall 2027, to pair it with a Wisconsin home football game to create a larger weekend experience for alumni and executives.
For other students interested in entrepreneurship, Jaxon emphasizes persistence and validating an idea early. “I think you need to be able to knock down these roadblocks and be able to be persistent while also being ambitious while starting a company,” he says. His journey at UW-Madison demonstrates how identifying an opportunity, building relationships, and taking a class project seriously can lead to opportunities far beyond the classroom.
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