WiSys Big Idea Tournament judges WiSys' David Brukardt, left, WARF's Greg Keenan, center-left, and Lakeland University's Stephanie Hoskins, right, congratulate UW-Milwaukee's Mitchelle Lyle after winning the statewide student entrepreneurship competition in April (Photo Courtesy of Hannah Scorsone, UW-Whitewater).

WHITEWATER—UW-Milwaukee’s Mitchelle Lyle won the WiSys Big Idea Tournament—a statewide student entrepreneurship competition—held at UW-Whitewater’s Hyland Hall on April 22.

Lyle, a student studying French, took home a $2,500 prize for pitching International Travel Advisor (ITA), an organization that supports remote workers, creatives and entrepreneurs who would like to live abroad by simplifying international travel logistics and helping them secure sustainability to make it work.

The WiSys Big Idea Tournament was established to extend the Wisconsin entrepreneurial ecosystem to University of Wisconsin students with the goal to help students think critically about their business ideas and implement lean business methodologies, including using the Business Model Canvas (BMC).

BMC is a simple, strategic and visual template that can assist entrepreneurs discover and describe their startup or product’s value proposition, infrastructure, customers and finances. The tool helps these entrepreneurs align their activities and illustrate potential trade-offs.

“I really enjoyed the entire experience,” Lyle said. “My customer discovery saved me a ton of time and effort with a pivot to better align my value to the appropriate audience. I also zeroed in on my value proposition which helped me develop the mission and vision statement. Now that I clearly defined my ‘who’ and ‘why,’ developing processes around ‘how’ has been an exciting journey as I outline objectives and fill gaps.”

UW-Whitewater’s Chad Tjugum took second place and a $1,500 prize for presenting RaritiesMarket, Inc., a rare coin marketplace and database which aims to protect collectors, reduce the risk of counterfeits, increase access to information and improve market efficiency.

UW-Platteville’s Marc Aruguete and George Case took third place and a $750 prize. The duo pitched Search Plastic, a plastics marketplace and platform that connects independent and small plastic suppliers with customers seeking lower volumes of plastic materials while improving confidence and transparency in the plastic sourcing process.

Overall, 10 teams and 11 students presented in front of a crowd that included entrepreneurs, faculty mentors and parents at the WiSys Big Idea Tournament. The other competitors included:

• Fitness & Strength LLC, Jackson Anderson, UW-Eau Claire.
• Engineering Designs for Communication, Mitchell Bell, UW-Green Bay.
• iSense Data, Jessica Solano, UW Oshkosh.
• Zeki Tea, Alex Ziegler, UW Oshkosh.
• Biz Optimization, Juan Torres Meza, UW-Parkside.
• Productive Practice, Kyrie Kons, UW-River Falls.
• Stain Saver Pro, Ben Schmitt, UW-Stout.

“Congratulations to all the students who showcased their entrepreneurship skills developed through the tournament,” said WiSys President Arjun Sanga. “The UW System is full of innovative student entrepreneurs and WiSys was thrilled to work with our university partners to support and showcase their ideas.”

To land a spot at the statewide competition, the students competed in a local qualifying competition hosted by their UW System campus or through an at-large round.

The judges for the event were:

• David Brukardt, Board member, WiSys.
• Greg Keenan, Senior Director, WARF Ventures, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
• Stephanie Hoskins, Instructor of Business Administration and Chair in Business and Entrepreneurship, Lakeland University; and Co-Founder, Debtle.

SPEED MENTORING

Through the months leading up to this statewide competition, students received support from campus and statewide entrepreneurship experts. On the day of the competition, the students participated in “Speed Networking” with a wide variety of Wisconsin business leaders. These mentors, which also included the judges, were:

• Andrew Hoeft, Senior Vice President of Global Sales, Upshop.
• Ann Rupnow, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Coordinator, UW-Eau Claire.
• Brandon Fong, Founder & Podcast Host, 7-Figure Millennials.
• Danny Andersen, Partner, Madison Lake Capital.
• Earl Humphry, Managing Partner, 221 Digital LLC.
• John Buckley, startup mentor and former Vice President, Baker Tilly.
• Bill Dougan, Professor of Management, UW-Whitewater.

WISYS SUPPORTS ENTREPRENEURS

Since 2020, WiSys has been launching local startup hubs to support entrepreneurs across the state in UW System-connected communities, including UW-Eau Claire, UW-Green Bay, UW-Platteville and UW-Superior. Over time, WiSys plans to launch a startup hub in communities with a regional UW System institution.

These startup hubs, known as WiSys VentureHomes® offer local entrepreneurs “everything your startup needs under one roof™,” including concierge service, resources and a supportive mentoring program.

For more information about WiSys VentureHome®, visit venturehome.org. For more information about the WiSys Big Idea Tournament, visit wisys.org/bigidea.

WiSys is a nonprofit organization that works with faculty, staff, students, and alumni of the UW System to facilitate cutting-edge research programs, develop and commercialize discoveries and foster a spirit of innovative and entrepreneurial thinking across the state.