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May 25, 2016 - entrepreneur@work Digest  
In This Issue
 
conferenceWisconsin Entrepreneurs' Conference, June 7 - 8
14th Annual
Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Conference
June 7-8, 2016
Alliant Energy Center in Madison

The two-day conference is one of the Midwest's premiere "how-to," hands-on events for entrepreneurs of all ages and experience levels. Attendees range from 'treps who are still developing their ideas to emerging company leaders who have already attracted angel and/or venture funding. These businesses cover a broad span of categories, from information technology to clean-tech, from advanced manufacturing to the life sciences, and from business services to consulting.

The Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Conference is produced by the Wisconsin Technology Council, the independent, non-profit and non-partisan science and technology adviser to the Governor and the Legislature. Its members include leaders from tech companies, early stage funds, all levels of education, research institutions, government and law. The Tech Council serves as a catalyst for the growth of Wisconsin's tech-based and entrepreneurial economy.

Click here to visit the event website for agenda details and to register.
Lend
Opportunities and Challenges in Online Marketplace Lending
Logo designer looking at computer screen
The Department of Treasury released a white paper entitled, Opportunities and Challenges in Online Marketplace Lending.  The white paper was prepared by the Treasury with contribution from SBA and serves to establish an overview of the online marketplace landscape, review stakeholder opinions, and provide policy recommendations.  
SBA
The man behind SBA's $6.5 billion annual give away for startups
Walsh describes how angel funding, together with SBA Small Business Innovation Research funds can help startups attract venture and private equity capital and eventually go public (photo: FedScoop/Wyatt Kash). 

Why entrepreneur and investor Mark Walsh thinks he now has the best job in the federal government.

Written by Wyatt Kash, Vice President - Content Strategy of Scoop News Group.

Mark Walsh has made a career of piloting and funding tech startups.  A chance call from an old colleague eventually led to a pitch Mark Walsh couldn't turn down: to head up the Small Business Administration's Office of Investment and Innovation where he helps dole out $6.5 billion annually in seed capital and loans to promising startups through the agency's Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, program and Small Business Investment Co., or SBIC. 

Wyatt Kash, an award-winning editor and journalist who has been following government IT trends for the past decade, met with Walsh at his Washington office, ahead of the SBIR's National Innovation Summit, May 23-25, to talk about what persuaded him to move from private sector finance to a job working for the federal government last November-- and why more startups aren't taking advantage of what the SBA can offer.

Read his interview at FedScoop.com
Cities
2016's Best Large Cities to Start a Business
According to John Kiernan, Senior Writer and Editor at Evolution Finance, nearly 54 million Americans are now working for themselves.  There is always room in the market for new ideas, products, services and multi-million-dollar success stories-- if one knows where to look.

In order to help aspiring entrepreneurs - from restaurant owners to high-tech movers and shakers - maximize their chances for long-term prosperity, WalletHub's analysts compared the relative startup opportunities that exist in the 150 most populated U.S. cities.  They did so using 16 key metrics, ranging from five-year survival rate to office-space affordability to educational attainment of the local labor force.  Check out their findings, additional expert commentary and a detailed methodology at the WalletHub web site.

rethinking
Rethinking Work on To The Best of Our Knowledge

To The Best of Our Knowledge is a nationally-syndicated radio show on Wisconsin Public Radio that cracks open the world and the ideas that fuel its engine.  The May 15th program revolved explored the theme of Rethinking Work.  
Around the State. . . 
Ctc
Check out the Center for Technology Commercialization Newsletter - May Edition

The Center for Technology Commercialization provides one-on-one assistance to early-stage emerging technology businesses throughout Wisconsin.  Center consultants are experts in commercialization processes.  They have over 60 years of combined experience and have collaborated in acquiring over $100 million in federal and other funding for their clients. The May edition of the newsletter, plus archives of their past issues are available on the CTC web site. 

Stay connected to the CTC and the latest in technology commercialization in Wisconsin by signing up for their newsletter here.




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The Wisconsin SBDC Network is a program of UW-Extension. Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.