Latest News
Member Benefits Available May 1
StartingBlock Madison is offering benefits for members beginning May 1. Members will enjoy cafeteria style insurance plans starting at just $25/month and will include: vision, dental, life and virtual health. For information about insurance offerings and membership...
StartingBlock Madison Praises Governor’s Budget in Support of Entreprenuership in Wisconsin
On February 14, 2021 Governor Tony Evers announced that his 2021-2023 executive state budget will include the following highlights to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation for all Wisconsinites: -$100M new venture capital fund of funds with emphasis on...
StartingBlock Welcomes New Board Members
StartingBlock Madison announces the appointment of four new members of its Board of Directors. Joining the Board of Directors are: Ed Javier, Becca Cooke, Max Fergus and Heather Wentler. “All four of our new Board members embody the values of our organization and...
Announcing StartingBlock’s Next Executive Director: Nora Roughen-Schmidt
On behalf of StartingBlock Madison, Inc., it is my pleasure to announce the selection of Nora Roughen-Schmidt as our next Executive Director. Nora emerged from a very talented pool of more than 60 candidates. Nora is a relationship builder, an accomplished...
Startups — Now is the time to find summer and fall internships. Seriously.
If you are a startup, you should hire an intern -- now. Yes, in the middle of the covid crises when teams are virtual. We know that it sounds crazy. But, because of covid, many companies, large and small, are letting employees go and pausing planned hiring. This...
StartingBlock COVID-19 Resource List
Below is an evolving selection of resources we've assembled to help entrepreneurs navigate the COVID-19 crisis. An article from early March outlining what is at stake. Funding Resources and Opportunities: How to Apply for SBA Disaster Loans by Troy Vosseler SBA...
Schedule virtual office hours with Nhi Lê, StartingBlock’s Entrepreneur in Residence
StartingBlock's Entrepreneur in Residence, Nhi Lê, provides mentorship, business development and strategy, and connections to mentors and investors for StartingBlock Madison members and small-to-medium-sized businesses in the greater Madison region. She serves...
StartingBlock Madison’s team grows
Marc Yarmoff and Nathan Eggenberger join as Community Manager and Membership Manager respectively. Over the last two months the StartingBlock Madison team has grown with two recent new hires. We are excited to announce the addition of Nathan Eggenberger as our...
Calling all Social Entrepreneurs!
Do you believe in business as a force for good? There's so much interest in social entrepreneurship but do you know that means and how social entrepreneurs can distinguish their social mission using new certification and legal structures? Do you know the difference...
An Intern’s View of StartingBlock Madison
Eduardo Castillo interned at StartingBlock in Summer of 2019 as part of the CEOs of Tomorrow program. Recently, Eduardo came back and spent a few days of his spring break volunteering at StartingBlock. He sat down with Executive Director, Chandra Miller Fienen, to...
StartingBlock: 2018 A Year In Review
Happy 2019! Now that the holidays are over and we have rung in 2019, the StartingBlock Team thought it would be a good time to take a look back at 2018 accomplishments and what is on the horizon for 2019. 2018 Highlights We opened! After five years of work,...
StartingBlock selects eight social impact entrepreneurs & teams for its Social Impact Initiative
StartingBlock, in partnership with the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact and Greenbush Strategy Partners, has selected eight social impact entrepreneur teams for StartingBlock’s Social Impact Initiative. The selected teams each have...
Social Impact Initiative Competition Announced
Change-Driven Entrepreneurs, Win Free Space at StartingBlock! StartingBlock, in partnership with the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact and Associated Bank, seeks the best and brightest social impact entrepreneurs to join us as...
StartingBlock showcases Shaun Ritchie, CEO of TEEM, on what makes the Salt Lake City innovation ecosystem tick?
Ever wonder how mid-sized cities break through to become entrepreneurial startup phenoms? Recently, StartingBlock hosted a lunch and learn with Salt Lake City entrepreneur, Shaun Ritchie, co-founder and CEO of Teem Technologies. Prior to co-founding teem, Ritchie ran...
We Did It! We are officially open!
We did it! We are officially open! And what a great soft opening we had last night with over 400 supporters and community members braving the tornado warning and pouring rain to join us. It was a fantastic night for the four founding partner organizations --...
StartingBlock Showcase: Cubicall
StartingBlock Showcases . . . Cubicall One of the key opportunities that StartingBlock has is showing off technology and innovative ideas of Madison-area entrepreneurs and innovators. Trust us, we are already working on showcase posts about the StartingBlock...
Eight New Members Join StartingBlock Madison’s Board Of Directors
StartingBlock Madison is proud to announce the appointment of eight new directors to its board as it prepares to open its doors next month. Along with immense leadership experience, the new directors bring national and regional representation to the Madison-area...
StartingBlock Madison Announces Inaugural Startup Partners for New Entrepreneurial Hub
We are excited to announce twelve startups that will comprise our opening cohort of companies and form the heart of the StartingBlock community. We are proud, humbled and excited to have such an impressive, diverse group of startups at StartingBlock. The First Dozen...
Talent Maximizer Series #6: H.R. 101
Our final workshop in the Spring series -- H.R. 101 -- brought back Karen Bender , this time joined by Sharon Egan of QTI. H.R. isn’t for everyone, but as the Founder of your startup there, are rules and regulations you should implement and be...
Talent Maximizer Series #5: Developing A Startup Friendly Compensation Package
This week's workshop--Developing A Startup Friendly Compensation Package--featured Melissa Turczyn from Michael Best & Friedrich. It’s no secret as an early stage startup, you most likely don’t have enough capital to pay market rates for talent when it comes time...
Talent Maximizer Series #4: How To Handle The Difficult Employee
This week's workshop focused on How To Handle The Difficult Employee with Karen Bender. As the Founder of your startup it’s inevitable at some point you will have to deal with a difficult employee. These conversations can be hard and awkward but there are ways to...
Talent Maximizer Series #3: Developing Company Culture & Why It’s So Important
This week's workshop focused on Developing Company Culture & Why It’s So Important with culture superstars: Leah Roe of HealthFinch and Zach Blumenfeld, co-founder of ThirdSpace. Gone are the days of joining a company because they have multiple beer taps and a...
Talent Maximizer Series #2: Deciding Whom To Hire & When
This week's workshop focused on Deciding Whom To Hire & When, with Matt Nelson, a local Entrepreneur and Freelance Marketing Consultant and Lucas Frisbie, StartingBlock Madison's Startup Team Strategist. The gig economy is disrupting the way we hire talent and now...
Talent Maximizer Series #1: How To Find And Attract The Talent You Actually Need.
This morning's Talent Maximizer Workshop on How to Find the Talent You Actually Need, featured Karla Angel from Carex Consulting and Chuck Klein from Exact Sciences. There’s going to come a time when you no longer can hire your friends to help you build your startup...
