MERLIN mentors to work magic with area entrepreneurs

Are you an entrepreneur in search of a mentor? Ready to commercialize a concept, process, or technology? Interested in taking your early stage business to the next level?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should attend the Gilson Discovery Series panel discussion at 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 27, and find out more about MERLIN Mentors, a collaboration of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the University Research Park and UW–Madison’s Office of Corporate Relations.

The event will be held at the Fluno Center, 601 University Avenue.

“MERLIN Mentors is a new organization created to formalize the mentoring process and to increase the number of entrepreneurs in southern Wisconsin,” says Terry Sivesind, director of MERLIN Mentors and co-founder of Wisconsin Investment Partners, Wisconsin’s first angel investor network.

Joining Sivesind on the Oct. 27 panel are Toni Sikes, founder and former CEO of Guild.com, and Terry Maxwell of the UW–Madison School of Business. A 6 p.m. networking reception will follow the panel presentation. Complimentary parking is available by registering at gilsonseries.org or by contacting Devon Cournoyer at (608) 890-1621; dcournoyer@warf.org.

WARF supports world-class research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison by protecting the intellectual property of university faculty, staff and students, and licensing inventions resulting from their work. WARF was established in 1925 as the first university-based technology transfer office in the world.

In 2002, UW–Madison alumnus, faculty member and entrepreneur Warren Gilson bequeathed a generous gift to WARF to promote entrepreneurship in Wisconsin. Since 2005, WARF has hosted a series of events in his name to help connect the university with the Madison community.