Building Startup Connections Across Wisconsin's Growing Tech Scene

Jacob Miller: Hey everyone, and welcome to the first episode of the Startup Wisconsin Podcast. We're very excited to finally get this show off the ground. In today's episode, we're gonna introduce ourselves and share why we're passionate about Wisconsin's startup community. We'll talk about what Startup Wisconsin's all about, why we decided to launch this podcast and what you can expect from future episodes.

We'll also give you a little sneak peek at some of the fun conversations that we've already recorded. Topics like sending hibernating ground squirrels from Oshkosh into space, and even a recent startup exit story that happened in Madison. Plus, we'll talk about how we think about community building and what's coming up for startup Wisconsin Week this November.

And before we wrap things up, we'll share how you can get involved and support the show. How's that sound? All right. Now let's dive in. We'll go back to the beginning of the intro. Um, who we are, uh, my name's Jacob Miller. I am the marketing brand manager at Headway, but I'm also a big part of SAR, Wisconsin.

You may know me from the SAR Wisconsin newsletter or the LinkedIn feed. I'm the person that's sharing and resharing. Things on LinkedIn. I'm also the one that creates the newsletter every single month and I update all the content on the website. Um, I'm kind of the marketing leader at for startup Wisconsin.

That's kind of my unofficial role. Um, but otherwise I help with pretty much anything where it makes sense and when we need it. So, um, I'm gonna hand things over to Andrew and he can introduce himself.

Andrew Verboncouer: Yeah, thanks Jacob. So I'm Andrew Verma core. I'm one of the organizers, I guess a re founder of Startup Wisconsin through, you know, we'll talk more about how we came to take it over and now we're planning and really what's our vision for this year and beyond.

But, um, you know, my role at Headway partner and CEOI came up in product and in design, you know, in startups and, um, yeah, I think just. We're excited about the continued opportunity we have here. As we've been to recent things like Founder Day in Madison. We've been to events in Milwaukee and Green Bay, and just really the buzz that's happening in the state.

Um, but I'm. My part of that is helping plan, organize, you know, the supper clubs, organize, um, some sponsorships, partnerships, and obviously just being a part of the community and trying to get people that, you know, we're connected to, to, to come out and show out and really help plan, uh, and promote, you know, what's, what's happening as we start thinking about.

What's beyond Startup Week, and we've started to do that more this year than ever. Um, you know, I think even dating back to November, but excited to be a part of it and really just build the type of community that we all want here in Wisconsin. I'm born and raised in Green Bay. Um, born and raised in, in Wisconsin.

Went to school in Minnesota, but really, like, how do we. Promote and leverage the resources and people and talent that we have in the area. And C Wisconsin is a huge part of that. So I'm just excited to support it. I guess that kind of goes into how headway supports it. Headway as an organization is a, you know, B2B SaaS consultancy.

We do like product design, engineering, and support for new products, and also enterprise. Um. But we took it over as a way to really continue building the community. We had started, you know, we've supported over the years, digital fertilizer was something that, you know, I was a part of and Jacob became, uh, became a part of after that.

But really, how do we continue to build the community here? You know, it's, we've learned through all this stuff and we'll get more, uh, deeper into it, but we've learned through all of our time and community building over the last 10, 12 years. Is that like. A lot of the progress happens through people like sure, there's, there's moments where things happen through products or businesses, but how do we get people together, the right people in the right room based on the goals and the situations that they're facing?

How do we help other people, uh, help themselves and, and also give back to the community? And so that's, I think, a big, big part of why we're focused on building startup Wisconsin. Excited about really the future of continuing to support it through headway, but then also, you know, get other community partners involved, whether that's sponsorships and we'll talk more about, um, how you can support the show moving forward.

But that's a brief background on, on me, I guess, and, and Headway's role inside of that.

Jacob Miller: Yeah, yeah. And I can just kind of go through like, you know, kind of the. The more, um, I guess proper description of what Startup Wisconsin is and what what we hope to do. So our mission is to connect, educate, inspire, and grow the tech startup communities across the state of Wisconsin.

Um, our vision is to build a statewide tech startup community in Wisconsin that thrives and provides access to support when tech startups. And entrepreneurs need it the most, and not during just like pivotal times of the year, like startup week or different conferences like that. Um, and some, some goals to get more specific is connecting startups and entrepreneurs with talent investors and resources.

Like also be like programs or, you know, startup accelerators as well. Um, providing continuous education focused on tech startups and innovation. Um, celebrating and showcasing the success and innovations around the state. There's a lot of untold stories that we really need to be, uh. Shouting from the rooftops for sure.

'cause you know, as Midwest folks, like, we're very humble and, and we kind of keep our heads down and work hard. And I think there's an opportunity for us to celebrate the hard work in people doing amazing things. And then also highlighting the importance of startups or the growth of Wisconsin's economy and the future economy.

You know, you think like companies like Epic, uh, or um, recovery.com, things like that. Like as they, they start to grow and scale like we need, how do we create more, more companies like that? So. Um, I think the next thing we can, we can move to is like, why are we doing this podcast? Uh, and as we kind of reflect on, you know, the mission and vision and goals that we have for startup Wisconsin, um, you know, why does it matter, uh, and how are we approaching it?

Um. The untold stories of all the individuals, all the organizations, and just the volunteers that are making things happen, um, through the, the startup ecosystem. Wisconsin really just need a spotlight more often. Um, there's a lot of great storytelling happening already, um, through like LinkedIn and different, different news, uh, sites and stuff like that.

But we definitely wanna like, have an opportunity for deeper storytelling, um, for having conversations around, uh. You know, just really interesting things that are happening, uh, just to be more in, in depth about it and casual about those conversations and not super buttoned up all the time. Um, and feel like you're connected to these people more.

Um, I think there's also an opportunity to share the challenges that these people are facing and maybe, um, there's an opportunity to make a new connection to someone that's maybe listening or shares the episode and say, Hey, I actually would love to help solve that problem, and they'll reach out. Just creating more opportunities like that.

Um, and I thi also think too, as Andrew shared before. The human element of our, our community is like super, super important, and that's what helps it grow. So us establishing deeper relationships with everyone that we talk to, and you kind of getting like this like, uh, remote, you know, uh, async relationship building.

You know, it's like when you listen to your favorite podcast, you kind of like build this like, uh, non-physical relationship with the person and they don't realize it. But you're learning from that person. You're understanding how they think you appreciate them, you learn from them. Um, so I think there's just the opportunity to like build relationships with people before you ever meet them in real life, if you do, which is really, really cool.

Um, I. I

Andrew Verboncouer: think the thing too, Jacob, that you mentioned is just like the human side of things. Like it's easy to, you know, and shout out to like the business news for what they do. Right? Obviously they're not just tech startups, but they're telling stories now more than ever across the state. Um, you know, we know Megan and, and some of the team over there and what they're doing, they're supporters of what we're doing at Startup Wisconsin and with the week.

Um. How do we help people understand, you know, especially when you're in the tech community that's as small as Wisconsin, you hear names of startups, but you don't know the founders or you don't know the story, you don't know. You just see like whatever's on the marketing site, right? And there's those untold stories that you mentioned, Jacob, that like we can start to peel back the onion and figure out like what did they do?

Did they find those resources in Wisconsin? Did they have to go elsewhere? Um, what are the challenges that they face building, you know, locally and beyond? And really start to. I dunno, close the gap in knowledge across the ecosystem. Whether that's an early founder coming into it or even a later stage founder who, you know, is looking for ideas of how this company went from, let's say, you know, an example would be like, you know, bankruptcy or getting ready to close to now they recently exited.

So how do you, what can you learn from those founders? And obviously we're doing things throughout the state and through the week and events where we're helping shine a spotlight of like in-person events on some of these stories. But at the same time, like you said, it's like. It's not buttoned up, it's not a presentation, it's not something that, you know, we're asking them to come and, you know, teach us five lessons.

It really is a conversation, a look behind the curtain of, hey, how do they think? What, what do they attribute their success to? And, you know, all those things that I think will help tell those stories, um, in a more meaningful way, hopefully. Where, you know, you could even, you know, listen to this while you're working on something where it is a conversation, you know, where we've seen, uh, a bigger.

Buzz are a bigger boom of some of the podcasts that have come out that are longer form. I mean, these aren't gonna be three hour episodes. Correct me if I'm wrong, Jacob. Sure. I mean, there may be a couple, but I, I think really, you know, something that you can listen to while you're, you know, on a drive or, you know, being able to execute.

You're not gonna be necessarily having to take notes and those sorts of things.

Jacob Miller: Yeah. And, and something I think about too is, uh, just the first handful of conversations is just. From the outside looking in with a lot of these people that you observe or follow online on LinkedIn, or you're just aware of them because of they run a certain program at a certain organization, or they're a founder of a startup, um, is just understanding that, you know, they're, they're humans too and they, you know, don't always have it all figured out.

And I think if you're like an early stage founder, a new founder, or if you're just working in tech and no matter what way you're working in it, um. It's just one of those things where like not everybody has it all figured out all the time, and I think just having that sense of like. Community through like, hey, like there's nobody here that really knows what they're doing to an extent.

And that's okay. And like, here's like how they think about approaching problems every day and here's the, the, the, um, the resources or the people or the, the services they may be leveraging, you know, when they do get stuck. 'cause they don't know everything about everything. Right. Um, so I think it's just a, it's just a good opportunity to remind yourself as you're listening.

You know, what can I learn from this person? Uh, what challenges did they have, um, despite like their ex, their background and expertise? Um, and, and how can I apply that to what I'm doing today? Um, the other thing too, I think is just shared, shared learnings, like across organizations like, um, programs that organizations have tried and piloted, and what can we learn from that and how do we share, uh, the good, the bad, the ugly, all that kinda stuff.

Obviously, depending on what people wanna share. But I think it's important for us to be sharing learnings across, across the board, uh, with each other. So, you know, as new programs are getting created in different cities, how can we kind of, you know, start a few steps ahead versus starting from zero or starting from scratch, um, as well.

So, um,

Andrew Verboncouer: yeah, maybe, maybe next, Jacob, we can talk, you can talk a little bit more about, um, what. What kind of guess, you know, are we hoping to have, obviously we've, we've begun recording, um, already, but like mm-hmm. What's the approach there and, you know, what are you thinking as far as, you know, who we're gonna help Spotlight and, and have those conversations with?

Jacob Miller: Yeah, I mean, I think for the most part we'll be highlighting founders that are building things in Wisconsin. Um, but outside of that we'll also have like ecosystem builders or, um, you know, people that are running programs for, for example, like we had a great conversation with Beth from Starting Block and Madison.

Um, we'll be talking to, to some founders that are both super early stage. Folks that have been doing it for eight to 10 years already, and they're still, you know, they went from being kind of like a solo founder to maybe a couple people on their team, and now they have between 30 and 40 people on their team.

And like, how, what was that journey like? Um, we'll also be chatting with different investors, um, or just different, um, different, uh, leaders from different organizations to just better understand like what are their goals for certain parts of the ecosystem or for certain individuals or entrepreneurs, um, and how do they approach it?

And just, just talking about too, um, what people are feeling about the, like the community and the ecosystem that's in Wisconsin. Um, because I think it's important for us to kind of get a, like a temperature check from like every type of person in that's in Wisconsin doing things and mm-hmm. It kind of, because I think a lot of us are thinking the same things, but not, we're not speaking about it out loud.

And I think just an opportunity for us to vocalize those things more and just to say, Hey. I don't know if you feel this way, but I do and just like have that conversation because I think the more we can kind of like talk about the elephant in the room, depending on the conversation, um, the sooner we can get to like, you know, making real progress on challenges that we face as a community.

So, um, yeah, I think that the idea is like, we'll have the very casual, very curious and honest conversations. That's kind of the, the best way to, to put it. Um. Yeah. So I don't know, Andrew, if there's anything else around that that you wanted to talk through. Um, or, or, no, I, yeah, I think,

Andrew Verboncouer: I think you highlighted a lot of 'em, right?

Like every ecosystem is built up of many different people, right? Mm-hmm. Founders, the industry, networks, you've research, you know, universities, education, like those are all different perspectives and everybody, you know. From what we've learned in, in going across the state and having, you know, running startup Wisconsin now for, you know, almost three years, is that there's a lot of people that are willing to help and willing to lend advice and willing, you know, and share the common goal.

I think what we see in Wisconsin is we see all of the, um, you know, hey, Wisconsin's dead last in venture activity or their last in, in this measure, right? Mm-hmm. Or things that maybe we're like, yeah, we kind of feel that way and, um. But I, I think when you go under the, under the hood on things like, you see a lot of people that are really talented, that are working on things as, as you mentioned, like heads down or are working even remotely for other companies that other big tech companies, Google, uh, you know, all these big companies that are defining the future of, of technology.

There's a lot of talent here. You know what I mean? That, uh, that continues to do that. So how do we, um. I think the, the podcast is an opportunity to shine a light on those perspectives and those conversations that don't always get to be had. Um, you know, when you're at a networking event or when you run into, you know, uh, go to presentation or something like that.

So I'm excited to really figure out how do we start to close the gap on this collaboration. And there's some big organizations doing big things. You know, generator, titletown tech, um, you know, with Microsoft and, um, wharf, there's all these different big players in, in different cities across the state.

And I think our challenge here for startup Wisconsin, and really our vision as it goes into is like, how do we help create, um, more collisions? Because there's density across the state. It might not exist in one city or one location. Mm-hmm. But there definitely is, you know, statewide. So how do we continue to build, um, a community that.

Has the right tools, it has the right, um, ways to get connected that everyone can benefit from. And I think that, you know, a big part of that is understanding these conversations and, um, understanding the different players and how we continue to, to support and collaborate.

Jacob Miller: Today's episode is brought to you by headway, a digital product agency based in Wisconsin.

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If you don't think we're working out within the first 45 days ready to see how we can help you and your team. Just head over to headway.io and book a free consultation today. I think something maybe I didn't mention, I'm like looking at our list here. Is also just like having conversations around like government and policy makers, and how do we talk about that?

Like in maybe, uh, in a more, uh, more layman's terms, easier to understand, because I think obviously there's a lot of things going on, uh, on a federal level, on a state level. But I think how do we kind of grasp like, okay, what con what things can we control in Wisconsin? Or what conversation should we bring up to, um, to policymakers in Wisconsin and how do we kind of rally together to make those things like, you know.

Real and, and get follow, follow through and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, um, definitely a lot of opportunity there. So, um, I think we can move on to, uh, just startup Wisconsin as a whole, how we think about community building and just what we've been doing since we've kind of taken over the reins of startup Wisconsin, and I believe it was 2022.

Um, so it's been about two or three years now since we've taken over, um, out of, out of Milwaukee and now we kind of run it out of Green Bay. Um, and I, I, one thing I will say, and it's just based on all the conversations I've been having, you know, lately and more recently, um, is I just feel like we've been in like observation mode.

Like as much as we would love to, you know, be off to the races and executing on, on like things or like, you know, hiring people and doing all these things, um. You know, we just didn't really been like listening, uh, to understand like, what are the patterns that we see, where are the gaps? Um, that, that, you know, across like the past decade and just across the past few years, you know, as, as things have changed and evolved over the last decade, um, and just understanding the evolution of needs and goals people have along like their startup journey, um, or maybe the needs that different programs need or have, um, and stuff like that.

Um, but I think like the one thing that we have been very, um. Uh, I guess aware of is like, we don't want to like replace what anybody is doing. We definitely want to amplify and create more awareness around what's going on. So that's the problem we've been focused on lately, but I also think there's an opportunity for us to kind of fill in those gaps, um, but do it in a way that doesn't like take away like from what everyone else is doing.

So, uh, uh, Andrew, I don't know if there's anything else you wanna share about kind of like the past few years and where we've been kind of like thinking about like community building for startup Wisconsin.

Andrew Verboncouer: Yeah, I mean, we've kind of switched gears from, you know, prior to taking over startup Wisconsin, we ran digital fertilizer.

So Jacob joined the board of that, and then headway, kind of formally supported it. And Jacob and I, essentially at the end, you know, when we got to COVID, we're running digital fertilizer, which was typically monthly, uh, meetups and, you know. Events and stuff in Green Bay at, we did some in Appleton and as we think about, you know, when COVID happened, we went online and, you know, startup Week kind of did some online stuff as well.

You know, Matt Cordio really helped bridge the gap between what startup MKE was doing into, um, you know, startup Wisconsin and Vision. So we've been involved in startup Wisconsin from the Green Bay perspective, and then also headway as a sponsor in kind and things like that, supporting the. The platform and site and stuff that they had had previously.

But, you know, as we think about taking it over, when, when Matt, uh, approached us, and I always tell people like, I don't know if anyone else would've taken it over. And so we, we said, yeah, we'll do it. Uh, we think it needs to exist. And so since then it's been, Hey, we're gonna run the week. Let's, let's take it over.

Let's take it over as is. But we think there's an opportunity to be something beyond just the week, right? You've got events going on with the technology council, you've got events going on, you know, that are, you know, summits and things like that throughout the year, but there's not this consistent community.

Um, so when we took it over, it's really like, you know, we, we rebranded it as. You may maybe don't notice now if you're just familiar with it, but re rebranded. It really came up with this idea and this vision to be able to, how do we become this, you know, year round community that people can get plugged into across the state.

Um, and so I think as we. As we move forward, it's really about, uh, as Jacob mentioned, like listening, but also the realization of just being a founder, um, ourselves and, and really looking into the problems that happen along that journey. You know, at headway we advise founders, we build with them. We're, you know, we've been.

You know, eight, nine year partners with many of, many of our partners there. And so we've seen the journey of, you know, where you go from an idea as a founder, you're gonna get connected into other people. You're looking for a technical co-founder, a designer, a marketer, or somebody who's gonna come alongside you.

But as you get traction with your business, like your needs change, your goals change, and. In traditional communities that are just focused on events and networking, you see a big drop off between those that go from, you know, wanting to start something to they actually did. Now their heads down and they're doing something else.

But every community is really built with, um. Like we have to reach behind. Like there's the old adage, like each one teach one, like reach behind you and pull up the next person. Um, and so as we've thought about this evolution of the founder, how do we create better opportunities for them to get value?

And so what that means is like, yeah, we're gonna do the networking events. Yeah, we're doing startup week, which is the door to their community, but how do we create more meaningful experiences through, you know, some of the things like, you know, hand uh, more formal mentorship programs between, um. Founders who are later, you know, a few steps ahead and founders that are new, how do we create mastermind groups of, you know, like, like-minded founders in healthcare as an example, and bring them to, you know, he, uh, a panel of healthcare investors, but then also be able to present them with healthcare, healthcare systems that could be early pilots to sow in.

So, not. You know, an incubator program or accelerator like, you know, um, generators doing, you know, nothing that's like a formalized 12 week program. But how do we offer these opportunities for folks that maybe don't need that level of support or investment, but are looking to get, you know, essentially.

Neck and neck with a group of founders that are, that are challenging, um, are going through the same challenges and whatnot. That gets into like our clubs and, and ideas of like, not everybody's coming with a goal. They just wanna meet other people. They want to network, but go beyond just the surface of networking events.

And so, uh, you know, coming up, we'll be launching different clubs. We've already launched the supper club, which we've done in a few cities across the state. Um, but also, you know, things that are like the wellness club where. You know, you're going hiking, you're doing activities, you're, um, something that's, you know, that's more social where it's not always about, you know, presenting or learning something or, you know, meeting brand new people, um, at scale and, you know, networking event, but like getting to know people better and, and doing the things that you enjoy.

Um, you know, and leading into that is, you know, how do we help later stage founders, um, with some of the struggles of, you know, some people are. Maybe leader stage and they're, you know, founders that are running, um, you know, a large, a growing company but are struggling with mental health issues or are struggling with connecting with the rest of their team or leadership.

Or how do we create these more retreat like experiences, whether that's on our own or, you know, with, you know, Midwest founders community, which you've had conversations with Angela and their team. Like, how do we just help, um, people get the resources they need, you know, in a, in a more community-like way across that journey?

Um. Is really where, you know, where we've been focusing as we've listened to it and as we really observed, it's, you know, people come in and out. And I, I think the, the reality is that as we've built, you know, as we built digital fertilizer before startup Wisconsin is, you would see people come in, Hey, they're, they're coming because they're engaging.

'cause they have a goal in mind. And when that goal or that scratch gets itched, then they, you know, they stop coming to events, they stop being engaged in community. And, you know, the, the. Conversation that we've had with a lot of founders as we have these supper clubs, as we have more of these smaller, intimate events, is like we really have to show up.

The community isn't anything if it's not, you know, if it's not for you. So if you want to build a community, you have to show up as as much as it. You know, pains you at different stages of your company or family life or what have you. Um, coming up to the community is ultimately gonna add more value. And that doesn't mean you have to come to everything, but it does mean, you know, being consistent and being present and, you know, coming, asking, you know, how you can help rather than, you know, just what you can get.

And I think that through that, you know, everyone can get a little bit of what they need and we can build a really meaningful community across the state.

Jacob Miller: Yeah, absolutely. I don't really have anything to add to that. I think it was a good, good, uh, kind of like explanation of, uh, the vision we have, the types of things we wanna do, the uni unique experiences we wanna create, um, and, uh, and do it in collaboration with the people and the organizations that are already here.

Um, you know, which can be very, very powerful for everyone, everyone, uh, in the state. I think one other thing too is like, um. And Midwest founders community is doing a pretty good job of it already. And I know, um, uh, some of the folks in Madison were talking about it, uh, is incorporating, uh, and doing collaborations with folks from the major cities across the Midwest.

So for example, twin Cities, Minneapolis, um, Chicago, Detroit. How do we get more kind of like collaboration with some of the other major cities and folks from those places? Um, because you know, yes, it's good that we're, you know, doing things in Wisconsin for Wisconsin, but I think there's a lot of opportunity for us to.

Um, kind of like bring folks from those cities to here and vice versa. Send our folks to Minneapolis Center folks to Chicago to whether it's to find investment, to find customers, just to find, uh, opportunities and whatever they, they're, they need, pretty much. Um, but, but also just to grow and expand their network and, and you just kind of never know who you're gonna meet and what that can do for you in your business.

So, um, or for your career, depending on where you're coming from. So, um. Yeah, I just think like, you know, we definitely like are very open-minded and curious and definitely just, again, it's more about the outcomes of helping people and getting them unstuck more than anything else. Um, so that's kind of, kind of how we wanna think about things.

Um, I think we can move on to, to startup Wisconsin Week. Um, as you know, one of the things that we've been doing, uh, it's been established since 20, so startup Milwaukee Week was the first one, and then it became statewide. Um, after that. I think 2017 was, the first year was statewide, if I remember correctly.

Yeah, so we got pulled in and Andrew and I started running and managing Green Bay for Startup Wisconsin week. Um, and now we obviously help manage and coordinate it for the entire state. Um, so this year, startup Wisconsin Week will be November 10th through the 14th. Uh, we're super excited, um, to, to start planning for it.

Um, we have a few ideas going, going on in our heads of things that we can do this year. Um, and, but I think the one thing that we're. Really excited about is kind of the theme that we've been talking about, and we'll be formally announcing it soon. So by the time you hear this, it may be announced already, it may not be.

Um, but this year, um. The theme will be becoming resourceful, um, talking about tools for the future. Uh, and so like how can founders and startups, uh, become more resourceful, um, for their business, for themselves, be more lean in their mindset, in their thinking to be more effective. What tools are available to them?

So it could be. Um, you know, leveraging experts that you know, that, that can help them get unstuck. Leveraging tools that can help them get unstuck. Such as like, what, what's going on in ai? Like, what is actually worth your time right now for artificial intelligence, machine learning, all that kind of stuff inside your business at different stages of your business.

Um, and just also too, like what are the mental models and frameworks that you can use to help you, uh, to get unstuck as well? Are there programs in your city? Are there programs in Wisconsin? Are there programs online that you can use and leverage? Like I think the idea is like, how can we, uh, get people access to the, this information and, and share stories around how people have done it themselves as well.

Um, so I dunno, Andrew, if you wanna share anything else.

Andrew Verboncouer: I think the, you know, the big way to get involved there is if you're leveraging AI or, you know, you're in the process of it and it's, you know, other, or other tools that have come out in the last, you know, couple years and it's reshaping how you're, you know, business building today or building your startup, whether that's in dev design, sales, marketing, what have you.

Um. And you wanna share that, I would encourage you to definitely reach out to us and we can get you plugged in, whether that's in Green Bay or across the state. And I think a lot of those, you know, for a lot of people, AI is this lofty thing or this thing that's unapproachable, they don't know where to start.

But those real concrete examples for how it's changing your workflows today, how it may. Um, helped you save time, money, be more effective, et cetera. Um, I think those tangible case studies are really important for people to understand, like, Hey, what's possible? You know, as I start my startup, you know, we gave a talk a couple years ago on like, uh, I.

Basically, you don't need developers to launch your startup, you know, as part of startup week. And I think the reality is like now more than ever, that's, that's true. You know, a lot of founders think of, well, I need a, I need a tech team. Well do you, in order to create, you know, a prototype you don't, today, there's a lot of tools out there.

So I think like we will, we'll probably share a lot of those, you know, tactical tools and things that, um, that you can do to go test your idea in market today and get. Get validation, but I think the next step there is like, how do you compete in a world full of noise where the bar and the barrier to entry and getting a, getting an idea off the ground has never been, you know, smaller.

And so I, I would say, you know, what other ways Jacob could, people get involved, obviously, you know, hosting, um.

Jacob Miller: Yeah, yeah, I mean, we're definitely looking for sponsorship, so, uh, obviously that helps us do the things we wanna do. It helps us advertise and promote Startup Wisconsin Week, uh, helps us put on, uh, better experiences across the state, uh, within Green Bay as well, which is where a, so Andrew and I usually are kind of running the show here in Green Bay.

Then we have, uh, great folks in Milwaukee, um, in Madison, and then Appleton, um, like helping coordinate events that are going on. Uh, the way that startup Wisconsin Mac usually works is it's, it's definitely more like volunteer led. Um, so like we have different volunteers in different cities saying, Hey, I'm willing to help coordinate an event.

I'm willing to help like. Um, you know, kind of get people plugged in and understand like how to set up their event and how to promote their event. And we definitely walk through all those things too, so we'll, we'll, we'll be creating like the kind of like week, week long, uh, statewide calendar where people can get access to all the events happening, whether they're remote or in your city.

Um, but ultimately is very volunteer driven. It's not like, Hey, we're all gonna be together at one, one big, uh, location, like a conference. It's definitely like a kind of, uh, you know, you, it's up to you basically to put on your own event. Uh, but we'll help you help promote and create awareness to get people to show up.

To your event. Um, so as far as volunteers, we're looking for people to speak on topics and share their expertise, um, or maybe share their story. Um, or if you're someone that said, Hey, I would love to like, um, maybe do a panel discussion or do an interview and host the storytelling or host like the discussion around a certain, um, industry or a certain technology, whatever it may be.

Those are really good examples. Sometimes people are just wanna get. You know, have happy hours, get people together in their community, you know, make it really simple for people to get together. Um, nothing too extreme to coordinate, right? Like, Hey, we're gonna be here, here's what it's gonna be like. Here's what to expect.

Um. The other thing we do, uh, we will look forward to having is like ambassadors. So folks that are willing to just spread the word on behalf of Start Wisconsin and just amplify what we're doing. So that's like such a simple thing. You don't need permission to do that from us. Like if we're, you know, sharing things or if there's events happening in your city, if there's events happening across the state and you think it's really great, you know, just share it, repost it, uh, email it to folks that you think would be interested in it, that are in your network or where you work.

Um, you know. Colleagues and things like that. I think just helping spread the word is super, super helpful. Um, yeah, that's kind of all I really have. Oh, I guess like, um, for sponsorship, like we obviously take financial sponsorship, but you can do in kind say, Hey, we'd love to host our, use our space. People can, can use our space for their event.

Um, or if, uh, whatever it makes sense for your business, for any kind, sponsorship, we're open to those conversations as well.

Andrew Verboncouer: Yeah, any, any contributions are appreciated and, you know, it, it takes a, a community to, to really build this. And so yeah, we're excited to, to collaborate in whatever way makes sense, sense for you.

So

Jacob Miller: yeah, basically by the community. For the community is the way that startup Wisconsin week, uh, usually works. So, um. I think that's all we have for the show today. Um, I guess I'll kinda, I'll tease a couple upcoming guests before we kind of wrap, wrap up this episode. Um, so the first episode or the first, uh, discussion I had was with the, the folks at Siren.

They're like a very early stage startup out Madison. Um, and they do like a sales, like role playing, uh. Platform. So for example, if you wanted to teach your sales team how to, um, prepare for like an actual real world sales call, they would be able to like work in a simulation and like kind of test their sales skills in a, with a AI simulation, which is super cool using like, uh.

Avatars based on your customer personas, which is really, really cool. Um, another discussion with, again, I shared earlier was with Beth Ott from starting Block in Madison, talking about starting block their programs and a little bit of her background of how she got to where she is today, which is really, really fun.

Um, we spoke with Dan Fogerty about, um, just LinkedIn in general and, and, you know, uh. What's, what's the term again? I'm trying to remember. Um, it's not a part of my vocabulary. Vocabulary, uh, uh, leadership. What's the leadership, what's word? Thought leadership. Yeah, sorry. It escaped me. Dan was talking about thought leadership, um, and what bugs him about it and like how to do it effectively.

Um, he's, he's a great like, thought leadership coach and works with different, different startups and, and companies to help with that. So it was fun to talk about that, that, uh, that part of the internet. Um, and then, um. Uh, let's see. I'm trying to think. Oh, we spoke with, uh, sprocket security, so they've been around for a little bit longer, so it was cool to hear about like the, the, the journey of, of that company.

Uh, and then, um, I spoke with Ben from a company called Fabio. So they're actually based out of California, but he has a lab here in Oshkosh. Um, it is really, really fascinating. The o, the one thing I'll tease about that one is, uh, that he's sending ground squirrels from Oshkosh into outer space, uh, in hibernation, and they'll be in these pods, uh, that will track their biometrics while they're hibernating.

And so we'll be learning more about that in that conversation. Um, and then tomorrow, um, I'll be speaking with, um, the founder of Red Fox AI and talking about the exit, um, or the sale of Red Fox ai. Um. Uh, they just announced it recently. recovery.com acquired Red Fox ai. So I'll be talking, uh, about that whole process and what that felt like as a founder.

Um, so really, really excited about that one too. I think that's about it. There's a couple more conversations I'm having with founders on, uh, interviews and they'll be getting scheduled out, but again, gotta edit all these episodes. Still got all them recorded. Um, so I think, you know, uh, we'll be getting the, the catalog built up pretty quickly.

Um, yeah. Yeah. I think the

Andrew Verboncouer: other thing too is like we're, you know, we're always looking for guests to share the story. So if you, you're interested in sharing yours, you know, we can set that up. But at the same time, you know, two ways really that we'll be recording the podcast through this right. Kind of, uh, remotely, uh, through the internet and then also.

I think, you know, we're looking to, as we go to specific events like we did in Madison Founder Day, record some of those onsite. And so it would be a good, uh, good opportunity to, to kind of do both and meet people face to face as we, we continue to build, uh, the podcast and also the community.

Jacob Miller: Thanks for joining us on the Startup Wisconsin Podcast.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode and maybe even learn something new. We're on a mission to discover and share the stories of the passionate people making things happen within Wisconsin startup and tech ecosystem. Wanna support the show? Don't forget to subscribe and get updates. If you're feeling generous, you can share rate and review our podcast to help others find us.

And if you have any questions about the show or know someone you think we should interview, feel free to reach out. Email jacob@startupwi.org. Wanna discover events happening across the state? Head to startup wi.org to see what's happening in your city. You can also find currently available pitch events and startup accelerator programs available for founders right here in Wisconsin.

Alright folks, until next time, let's keep moving Wisconsin forward.