Andrew Verboncouer has been building startups since 2006, launching his first e-commerce clothing company while attending Winona State University. Over nearly two decades, the Green Bay native has founded more than a dozen startups (“Some of them we raised funding for; some of them died a miserable death”) and now serves as CEO of Headway — a 10-year-old consultancy that helps startup founders and corporate innovation teams launch zero-to-one products. Verboncouer and Headway are also the driving force behind Startup Wisconsin Week, taking place this year Nov. 10-14.
What drove Headway to take over Startup Wisconsin and Startup Wisconsin Week?
Verboncouer: In 2022, [founder] Matt Cordio was looking to offload it from what he was doing. We weren’t the first or last people he asked, so we said we’d better do it [because] this is great for the community. My partners in Headway have a passion for creating the type of community, networking opportunities and educational content that we wish we had when we were starting out.
What was missing from your own founder journey that inspired this work?
After graduating college, myself and my co-founders, including my brother and Headway COO Eric Verboncouer, started a couple companies that we raised funding for, but everything was in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Minneapolis. There were very few resources here. With Startup Wisconsin, our goal is to bring people together. One of our really strong beliefs is if you can introduce the right people at the right time, then you can help them achieve their next goal. It’s usually not something they learned; it’s usually someone they meet that opens that door.
What makes Wisconsin’s startup ecosystem unique?
Each city has a unique focus. If you think about the three main hubs, Madison is known for health care, Milwaukee for insurance and fintech products, Green Bay for manufacturing, supply chain and logistics. I don’t know if there’s any other state that has such a great focus of industry in each city like we do.
What’s in store for Startup Wisconsin Week 2025?
The theme is becoming resourceful and tools for the future. Our goal in programming is sharing case studies of how [businesses] are using the new tools that have come out in the last few years, like AI, to run leaner, healthier businesses.
For the latest Startup Wisconsin Week updates, visit startupwiweek.com.
