Corporate Cleanup
Are new corporate accountability measures making a difference or making a mess? Finance faculty and a Wall Street investigative journalist debate their impact.
Alum Helps Make Wisconsin Entrepreneur-Friendly
Joe Kremer, MBA ’97, is in the business of making Wisconsin a more entrepreneur-friendly state. He was hired in 2005 to launch the Wisconsin Angel Network (WAN), whose mission is to fuel the growth of entrepreneurial, early-stage financing throughout Wisconsin. WAN is an umbrella organization for early-stage funds and investors that provides resources for Wisconsin entrepreneurs and angel investors. WAN looks to attract more venture capital to Wisconsin working on both sides of the entrepreneurship equation, developing tools to help entrepreneurs and investors find one another.
Kremer came to the School of Business to earn his MBA in finance, and was drawn to the offerings of the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurial Management and its Weinert Applied Ventures in Entrepreneurship (WAVE) program.
Following graduation, Kremer teamed up with Nasser Kutkut, MBA ’01, who had earlier earned his PhD in engineering from Wisconsin. They launched PowerDesigners, a high-tech power electronics firm based in Madison. Kremer left PowerDesigners to start WAN and provide the tools for other entrepreneurs to have a similar experience.
Wisconsin is a great place for entrepreneurs—it’s in our blood to talk about new and different ways of doing things.
“PowerDesigners gave me a great post-MBA education that can only be truly learned by just doing it—business is an applied education more so than academic,” Kremer says.“In essence, the Wisconsin Angel Network provides that educational opportunity for Wisconsin entrepreneurs, offering tools and resources to raise money, develop a business plan and create an investor presentation.”
Kremer says he identifies with graduates who want to explore what’s beyond Wisconsin when they graduate. “They need to go explore the world, and when they decide they want to settle down, many decide they want to come back to Wisconsin. We need to be sure we give them an opportunity to come back. Wisconsin is a great place for entrepreneurs—it’s in our blood to talk about new and different ways of doing things.”
— Kaylene Reilly
Update Magazine June 2007
Feature Stories
Jumping on the Brandwagon:
Why companies are paying handsomely to make sure you see their brands more and more in movies, TV shows, even in the books you read.
Keeping Pay at Bay
Soaring CEO salaries are the target of increasing controversy. Will Congress step in to set limits?
Should it?
Why Don't We Have Better Bosses?
Even with good intentions on both sides, supervisor-employee relations can be fraught. A look at what keeps us from having (and being) better bosses.
Departments
JUNE 2007 VOLUME 25 NUMBER 1
EDITOR: Lari Fanlund
DESIGN: Lori Strelow, Anna Dulmes
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE: Jennifer Asselin and Scott Voss
EDITORIAL BOARD: Alisa Robertson, Melissa Amos-Landgraf, Tina Frailey, Jim Kubek, Richard Lee, Mark Matosian, Deborah Mitchell, Kayleen Reilly, Steve Schroeder and Charlie Trevor
COVER: Product placement is all around, in places you may or may not expect, and it’s not happening by accident—as Marjani Coffey, a second-year Wisconsin MBA student in Brand and Product Management, helps illustrate.
Cover photo for UPDATE
by Bob Rashid.
UPDATE is published in print and online each June and December by Wisconsin Business Alumni to inform alumni and friends about programs and activities of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business and its alumni. Printing is paid for with private contributions. This issue, and previous ones, are available online. Correspondence should be sent to lfanlund@bus.wisc.edu or mailed to:
UPDATE
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975 University Ave.
Madison, WI 53706-1323
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