As entrepreneurs, you work to build a better world. Forward thinkers and innovators have always been a key to social change and community well-being. Join one of Madison’s top rising philanthropists, Dan Rashke, Chairman of the Board at TASC, to discuss innovative philanthropy. He will joined by a fellow philanthropist and financial advisor.
This interactive session is led through the framework of the Dan & Patti Rashke (TASC) Family Foundation 10-year matching gift to United Way of Dane County, a first-of-its-kind gift that is structured to elevate the nonprofit sector and leverages giving on all levels across the community. This $10-$15 million commitment is not where Dan’s philanthropy started. It’s the culmination of a commitment to philanthropy and social change that is decades in the making. You’ll leave with concrete strategies to build a roadmap for designing and achieving your own ambitious philanthropic goals. This will include diverse strategies for giving, examples of innovative investments, and some tangible tips to identify which causes align with your passion.
Join the ASK (Actionable, Support , Knowledge ) platform online challenge , join the zoom everyday 30 mins to work on your Claude AI prototype - 8:00 am with your community and assist each other.
Meet in hybrid or in person to learn about ASK and showcase your work 8 /21 . Topics to choose My First ( App, chatbot, website) AI for cause ( Lonliness, inclusive, hunger) Ai for sales Anything else
AI can help you generate an application faster than ever. But once the demo works, what comes next?
Join Flexion, a Madison leader in system modernization, human-centered design, and modern software delivery, for a live, interactive session where we take an AI-generated proof-of-concept application and move it closer to something real.
In this hands-on session, we’ll start by exploring the AI-generated starting point: a user-submitted product idea and the proof-of-concept app created from it. Flexion’s engineers, designers, product experts, and attendees will work together to look at what the app already does well, where it falls short, and what it would need in order to become a real product. Along the way, we’ll evaluate the prototype through the lenses of usability, architecture, code quality, security, scalability, and delivery readiness.
From there, we’ll improve the product together. We'll collaborate to refine the user experience, prioritize the most valuable enhancements, and move the app beyond demo-quality functionality. Using AI-assisted development alongside proven engineering practices, the group will iterate on the product live.
Finally, we’ll focus on building for quality and scale. The team will strengthen the application’s architecture, refactor and improve the codebase, and apply practices from agile delivery, Lean UX, ensemble collaboration, and cloud-first development to move the prototype closer to a production-ready solution.
Buying or selling a commercial property can feel overwhelming—especially when you don’t understand the process and terminology.
This session cuts through the noise and gives you the clarity you need to make smart decisions. You’ll understand the full sales process, what really drives value, and how to prepare so you don’t lose time, money, or opportunities.
Whether you’re purchasing your first small building or considering selling a long-held asset, this class gives you the fundamentals to move forward confidently.
Hosted by Wisconsin SBDC at UW-Madison
This is a virtual event. For those who are logged in and have RSVP'd, the streaming link will appear on this page starting 10 minutes before the session.
While we should all strive to retain the skills and attributes that characterize us as being authentically human, it is easy to surrender control to technology that makes our lives easier-- but at what cost? Join two experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and psychology as they lead a presentation through conversation, games, and team activities that explores our reliance on technical automation and AI. We'll identify the possible pitfalls that we may stumble into which arise from an over-reliance on the technology. Ultimately, we will introduce a process that one can use to identify when to use artificial intelligence and when to rely on our own native intelligence. This event is suited for anyone who may have roles in the creation of products and services, analysts and technicians, management, medicine, and education.
Time: 1000-1230p
Location: Goodman South Campus, Madison College 2429 Perry Street Madison, WI 53713
Have you been thinking about turning your hobby into a business, but aren’t sure where to start? Do you have a side hustle that’s grown and you want to explore next steps? Are you interested in learning more about how to explore a business idea you have? This session will teach you how to use a visual business planning tool call the Business Model Canvas. This tool will help you understand how 9 functional areas of business work together to create a model of operation that can help you determine whether it is time to take the leap to full-time. The class will also give you information about resources and next steps.
Hosted by Wisconsin SBDC at UW-Madison
This is a virtual event. For those who are logged in and have RSVP'd, the streaming link will appear on this page starting 10 minutes before the session.
You have the big idea, the technical expertise or know-how, and a product or service you believe in and excites you. But if you feel like you haven’t unlocked the same level of excitement and awareness from potential buyers, you’re not alone. Understanding how you can apply principles of marketing strategy in your business could be the missing puzzle piece to fuel the next level of your company’s growth. During this session, you’ll get an actionable crash course in marketing strategy, including understanding what a “market” is and how to define your target audience and create personas, how to conduct a competitor analysis and define your differentiators in order to develop your unique positioning, and more. After the session, you’ll be able to apply marketing strategy principles to connect more often and more authentically with your right-fit potential buyers.
As angels apply more rigorous diligence standards to pre-seed and seed deals, conviction is arriving later in the cycle. The issue is that the very signals investors wait for, revenue, growth rate, retention, are the same signals that attract institutional capital and reprice the round. By the time they appear, much of the upside has already been compressed, leaving angels with institutional-style pricing on early-stage risk.
This panel argues that entry timing is the most underappreciated driver of angel returns. When traction becomes the primary filter, angel investing quietly shifts into a different asset class, with mismatched risk and return.
We will explore:
Why entry timing may matter more than signal density in early-stage portfolio construction How evolving diligence norms may be pushing angels into late-seed economics with early-stage risk What pre-traction conviction actually looks like in practice and how experienced investors form it How founders with high potential are interpreted before traditional metrics exist and what that means for access to capital
A practitioner-led discussion on timing, access, and whether current angel investing standards still align with the return profile they are meant to achieve.
Wrap up an incredible week of innovation, connection, and community at the Forward Fest Closing Happy Hour hosted by 100State.
After five days of events, ideas, and new relationships, this closing gathering brings together founders, builders, and supporters from across the ecosystem for a final opportunity to connect, reflect, and celebrate everything that makes Wisconsin’s startup community special.
Join us for a relaxed and welcoming environment where you can:
* Reconnect with people you met throughout the week * Share key takeaways and next steps * Strengthen relationships and spark future collaborations * Close out Forward Fest on a high note
Whether you attended one event or ten, this is your chance to be part of the collective energy that defines Forward Fest.
