The University of Minnesota Entrepreneurship Club

The Founding Fathers [Spring 1999]

The Entrepreneurship Club at the University of Minnesota was founded in the spring semester of 1999. A group of eight students and an academic advisor, Alan Fine, had a vision for a new club in the Carlson School of Management. Once officially formed, the Entrepreneurship Club was headed by President Chris Stenzel and Vice President Nathan White. Ahmed Siddiqui was the first Director of Business Events and worked closely with Floyd Adelman, President of Inner Circle, to bring exciting small business CEO's to speak every week. This format paved the way to what the Entrepreneurship Club is today. That first semester the club held its first meeting which was a huge success-student interest for the club was soaring!

Initial Meetings [Fall 1999 - Spring 2000]

As fall semester 1999 began, Entrepreneurship Club held an election for the Vice President position as Nathan White had graduated. Matt Nelson became the new Vice President and later became President when Chris Stenzl stepped down. The first club meeting was standing room only and featured Scott Bayless, CEO Cyrus Intersoft and Ulyssis Telemedia. The club went on to host a total of eight speakers that semester including the owner of Bruegger's Bagels in Minnesota, the president of TCF Bank, and other successful CEOs. Waseem Azizi became Vice President after Matt Nelson accepted the role as the President. Later, Nadia Eldeeb became Vice President after Waseem Azizi's departure. When Spring semester 2000 began, Cory Wendt became the second Director of Business Events after Ahmed Siddiqui moved on to be the VP of Intelligence. Cory Wendt expanded the format to have two speakers a week, by holding meetings on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The club continued to grow in student membership.

Spring semester 2000 allowed the club to continue its great speaker lineup with nine new CEOs and business owners from the Twin Cities. Matt Nelson resigned as President due to conflicting interests with his external employment. Cory Wendt, previously the Director of Business Events, moved into the President position. The semester finished strong, but the club faced an uphill battle to continue attracting students.

Start - Up Squad - Spring 2001

After hearing the successes of all of the speakers throughout the year, students were itching to start their own businesses. Jesse Zettel felt there was a need for a forum where students can discuss their ideas with fellow students and CEO's without fear that their ideas will be stolen. Thus the Start - Up Squad was born, with key contributions from Jesse Zettel, BJ Durtsche, Ahmed Siddiqui, Karl Svendsen, Jeff Wenz, and Sam Rosen. The Start - Up Squad met on Tuesday evenings when people were ready to present, and was a huge success, leading to a similar activity with involvement from the newly formed Entrepreneurship Alumni Club in 2003.

1st Annual CEO Dinner - Spring 2001

Through enormous growth of the club since 1999, and the large number of speakers that spoke to the organization, it was time for a Thank You dinner for the CEO's called the CEO Dinner. In Spring of 2001, the first dinner was held at the Calhoun Beach Club with entertainment from the executive board featuring the now famous Entrepreneurship Club Introductory Powerpoint presentation prepared by Jesse Zettel, Ahmed Siddiqui, and Tony Janowiec. The night was a huge success with great support from the CEO's and Faculty/Staff of the Carlson School. This was the event that truly put the Entrepreneurship Club on map; marking the end of a tremendous year of explosive growth and excitement.

Rebounding Growth

In fall semester 2001, former Chief Financial Officer Tony Janowiec became the club's new President. Chief Web Officer of two years, B. J. Durtsche took on the additional duties of Vice President while still maintaining the club's extremely popular website www.ceomakers.com. Once again the club was flourishing with tons of student interest and involvement. The number of meetings with incredible speakers continued to grow with a total of twenty-one! The Wednesday and Thursday weekly meetings have accompanied the needs of students with classes and impressed our many speakers and other Carlson School faculty and staff.

Tony Janowiec graduated December 2001. B. J. Durtsche became the new President with Steven Snyder, former VP of Marketing, as the Vice President. The dynamic duo continued to expand the club's presence throughout the entire University and especially in Carlson. The club had become the largest club in the Carlson School of Management, if not the largest of the entire University. Clearly, with meetings twice a week and a total of twenty-five meetings for just spring semester 2001 the Entrepreneurship Club at the University of Minnesota has become the most active club on campus! Spring semester 2001 was also home to the Second Annual CEO Dinner; again, the event was a major success for the club, students, CEOs, and the Carlson School! Richard Schulze, Founder Best Buy, was a highlight speaker of the semester.

Fall semester 2002 was not unlike the other fall semesters: attendance skyrocketed, meetings twice a week, social events abounded, and Entrepreneurship Club was always the talk at Carlson! Former club President Cory Wendt was one of our featured speakers as he now owns an Alaskan resort!

In December 2002, B. J. Durtsche's Presidency term was up and Justin Porter, former Chief Web Officer became the new President. Steve Snyder was re-elected as Vice President for his third semester in the position.

In December 2003, Justin Porter's Presidency term came to a close and former Vice President Britta Anderson became our new President. The club is continually growing in all aspects. It continually offers students an experience they will never receive in any classroom.