Four entrepreneurs with connections to UW-Madison spoke to students about the three Ms of entrepreneurship—money, marketing and mentorship—Tuesday night at Memorial Union.
The Wiscontrepreneurship panel included Elizabeth Kraemer, owner of retail store Lady Moxie; Anthony Adams, founder of Credit Covers, which produces credit card skins; John Besmer, president of the graphic design firm Planet Propaganda and Matt Weygandt, CEO of the wine and coffee chain Barriques.
Kraemer, Besmer and Adams obtained degrees from UW-Madison, and Weygandt is a Madison native. Lady Moxie, Planet Propaganda and Barriques all operate in the Madison area.
While finances can be difficult for entrepreneurs to handle, the panel agreed that they are manageable, stressing the importance and effectiveness of money in the early phases of entrepreneurship.
“Always ask for more money than you like so you’ll be comfortable,” advised Besmer when asking for capital to start up a business.
“Savings was key for me,” Kramer said, who worked for three years and used her earnings to open her store.
In terms of marketing their businesses, each entrepreneur expressed skepticism about spending money on advertising and attributed their success to word-of-mouth promotion through loyal customers.
“Knowing who you’re talking to is equally important to what you’re selling,” Bresner said.
The panel also emphasized the importance of mentors in assisting aspiring entrepreneurs, and encouraged students to meet as many people as possible before starting a business venture.
“I built a circle of people around me who knew how to do what I didn’t,” Kramer said.
Getting to know a wide range of people in the fields of business, press and finance, as well as fellow entrepreneurs, is vital to starting and maintaining a successful business, according to the panel.
The UW-Madison Department of Corporate Relations presented the Wiscontrepreneur panel as part of a campus initiative to “enhance entrepreneurial activities throughout the curriculum,” according to its website.
The Wiscontrepreneur Initiative launched in December 2006 after UW-Madison was awarded a $5 million grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
