Start Up Wisconsin

From the GroupCard Blog:

We’re excited to announce that GroupCard has been acquired by InComm.  Helping people come together to give their friends and family a meaningful gift has always been an important part of GroupCard. We created GroupCard with the basic principle that social expression and group gifting would be a major growth driver for the online prepaid business. Teaming with InComm will help us achieve an even broader social payments strategy in partnership with the leading product brands and retailers worldwide.

It’s wonderful to see software companies with a foothold in Milwaukee getting aquired. Way to go GroupCard!

The theme for this month is “Using Social Media to Reach Investors” each meetup a facilitator will moderate, topics will be emergent around a theme.

Format: Format: First hour everyone gets 3-5 minutes to pitch their topic in front of the group. Second hour the audience picks the most interesting presentations and we have 1-3 of those present (based on the split of votes). *camp like format. Meetups will happen on the first Thursday of the Month from 6:00 - 8:00pm.

The 2010 Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference will be held June 8-9 at the Crowne Plaza Milwaukee Airport Hotel.

Click here to visit the conference webpage and register.

Click here to view conference agenda.

The Entrepreneurs’ Conference is one of the Midwest’s premier networking and hands-on events for entrepreneurs. Business leaders, investors and others made connections as they learned how to crack into today’s emerging markets.

Speakers at the conference include:

Dave Berkus, past chairman of Tech Coast Angels, the nation’s largest angel network; twice an Inc. 500 CEO

Sue Marks, founder and CEO of Pinstripe Inc., a national leader in recruitment process outsourcing

Robert Okabe, managing director of RPX Group and a pioneer in Chicago angel network

Eric Apfelbach, CEO of ZBB Energy; serial entrepreneur who has raised more than $100 million for his companies

Additional highlights include:

Resource center for one-on-on tips on grants, research partners and more

The Top 12: Finalists in the Governor’s Business Plan Contest square off

The Ken Hendricks Memorial “Seize the Day” award.

Hands-on panel discussions tailored to the needs of entrepreneurs

This episode includes the Wisconsin Stock Report with Liz Schrum, commentary about the new math of job creation from Wisconsin Technology Council President Tom Still, and serial entrepreneur Kelly Fitzsimmons rates the state’s start-up climate.

Click here to see the show, produced by Tweedee Productions of Madison.

Bevpost.com, a web and text message based application that seeks to
foster relationships between Beer, Wine, and Spirits brands and you by
giving away free bar and restaruant drink tickets, spontaneous
premiums like t-shirts, hats, and free trips when you buy select
brands at your liquor store a few times over the year, has begun
rolling out in madison.

They are launching in a few select stores and will slowly add on more
stores and brands.

The first 3 brands are local wisconsin spirits 45th Parallel Vodka,
Midwest Vodka, and Referent Horseradish Vodka (amazing with Bloody
Marys).

Go online to watch their videos, get drink vouchers for buying with
bevpost, and support the growth of this WI startup!

Have you ever wanted to compete with your readers? Now you can, check out embeddable games from Sharendipity (I currently hold the #3 spot for this game):

I received this email today:

Happy Shopping!

Here is a great read from Penelope Trunk entitled “Starting a Company in Silicon Valley is Stupid”. Penelope, thanks for choosing Madison, we need more people in this state who speak their mind!

http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2009/03/20/starting-a-company-in-silicon-valley-is-stupid/

There were a record number of entries in the Governor’s Business Plan competition this year. Way to go Wisconsin Entrepreneur’s, good luck!

http://wistechnology.com/articles/5461/