Alumni Entrepreneurs
It’s no surprise that a growing number of our College of Liberal Arts graduates have gone on to start their own companies or create their own products and services: A liberal arts education at the University of Minnesota encourages and nurtures the kind of imaginative thinking and flexibility that characterize the entrepreneur.
In response to inequities and roadblocks to accessible, solid healthcare, Thompson Aderinkomi (BS ‘02 economics and statistics; MS ‘04, statistics, MBA ‘11) co-founded a technology-enabled primary care clinic that delivers services in the comfort of the patient’s home and contracts directly with small employers.
Classmates Jesse Abelson (BS '17 CFANS, BS '17 CBS) and Dalton Schutte (BA '17, CLA) are tackling the issue of poverty in Haiti through Vetiver Solutions, a small Minnesota-based company whose motto is “Growing a poverty-free Haiti, starting at the root.”
While pregnant with her son, Karin Frost (BA '84, French and Danish) read a book by Jean Leidloff, who had lived with the Yequana people of southern Venezuela and witnessed their contented babies, happily straddled to their mothers 24 hours a day. She wanted to "wear" her baby too, but couldn't find a baby carrier that worked for her. She made her own, and by 2007, her company was selling 10,000 to 12,000 carriers a month in more than 20 countries. “It’s not just that I came up with a product that really works, but that we’re making a difference child by child,” says Frost.
Scott Litman (BA '91, history) is a managing partner of the Twin Cities metro area’s fastest-growing business. He argues history is a great background for business leaders to pair with an enthusiasm for new ideas, an uncanny ability to see what's coming next, and the sheer will to jump in.
Diane Madden (PhD '90, education administration) and Tim Madden (BA '74, speech communication, JD '77) employ 3,000 people and serve more than 2,000 residents nationwide, providing residential housing for persons with disabilities. When the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in 1974 that people with mental disabilities were entitled to live in residential group homes, they started their service from scratch.
Dawn Montez (BA '91, psychology) attributes her entrepreneurial success to creative, idiosyncratic resourcefulness. At first, Montez didn’t know the first thing about freight management—she acquired MBA skills on the job to build her own freight brokerage firm.
Steve Walker (BA '88, communication studies) refused a lucrative job offer to begin his entrepreneurial career. He successfully launched a series of objectives, spanning industries as varied as life insurance and gourmet beverages.
Lucia Watson (BA '78, French) restaurant is a Twin Cities icon of high-quality, sustainable food. By the time she “got the bug” to open her own restaurant, she knew something about every ingredient of the operation, from cooking to serving to clean-up.