UT Junior Gets Biz Savvy with Web Site

Alex Monroe has rubbed elbows, or rather computer keys, with the likes of Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.org, Tim Westergren founder of Pandora.com and Tony Hsieh, the chief executive officer of Zappos.com.

As the creator and founder of GetYourBizSavvy.com, Monroe contributes weekly interviews with successful entrepreneurs, entertainers and innovators to his Web site, offering advice from those who at some point were in his shoes.

“I started the Web site in January 2009 to give young entrepreneurs, artists, anyone pursuing a dream, a place to start,” said Monroe ’10, a management major.

Monroe, who is passionate about entrepreneurship, said he found a lack of information on the topic when he started his own research.

“I wanted something inspirational, a place where I could learn from mentors, to learn how they did it,” Monroe said.

David Bechtold, assistant professor of management, is Monroe’s advisor and professor in his corporate responsibility class. He said Monroe has the rare ability of not only seeing business opportunities but also pursuing them.

“Scan through his website and you will see a variety of interests and a remarkable number of personal interviews with successful entrepreneurs in these areas as well as with critical thinkers in the field,” Bechtold said. “Alex has shown the ability to recognize opportunities, to pursue them with determination and to overcome obstacles that too often keep most of us from achieving our goals.”

Monroe said he has found the support of his UT professors to be very helpful in achieving his goals. As for his future, Monroe said he’ll keep providing interviews every Monday to GetYourBizSavvy.

“I’ll keep it consistent until I run out of entrepreneurs,” he said with a slight smile. “I know I won’t get bored with the number of top innovators out there.”

Jamie Pilarczyk, Web Writer
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