business

Some people wait years, even decades, before they bolt the corporate cubicle to start their own companies.

Then there's Kevin Carlow.

The 22-year-old graduated in May from the University of Minnesota with degrees in marketing and entrepreneurial management. But by the end of June, he had left the security of a full-time job to put his newly acquired entrepreneurial credentials to the test.

That meant joining former classmate Nick Beste in running the Alumni Advisor, an annual magazine aimed at new college graduates.

Last spring, the publication, distributed to 8,000 U of M seniors at a graduation event, generated more than $34,000 in revenue.

Next spring, the Advisor will reach nine campuses across the country, going to more than 50,000 students from Florida State University to the University of Arizona, as well as to the U. Revenue could hit as much as $600,000.

At first, Carlow tried balancing his magazine duties and his job in sales and marketing at Coherent Solutions, an information technology consulting and outsourcing company in Minneapolis. Then, exhausted, he sought advice from friends and former teachers before casting his lot with the Advisor.

"I feel more fulfilled now," said Carlow, who was born in Canada but grew up in Wisconsin. "I had the degree, I'm young and hungry, and our business didn't need a whole lot of start-up capital.... I like things that are a little more fast-paced and risky."

The Alumni Advisor was the brainchild of Carlow, Beste and other students who signed up for a course at the U called Entrepreneurship in Action. The yearlong class is taught through the Carlson School of Management's Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship.

Students spend the first semester coming up with ideas for companies, building business plans and choosing companies they will launch and operate in the second semester, said John Stavig, the center's director.

They consult with faculty members, local entrepreneurs and alumni to evaluate plans and work out other details, Stavig said.

"The role of our entrepreneurship center and our program here is about inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs," Stavig said. "This class helps give them actual experience in some of the basics of starting up a business -- developing and launching the initial products, working with customers and vendors in the real world."

The U class is modeled after a similar offering at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., Stavig said.

The two courses are the only ones in the country that Stavig said he is aware of that enable students to start and run a business external from the university.

"We're encouraging the students this year to think bigger and more broadly; to pursue opportunities that will have the potential to develop sustainable businesses," Stavig said.

Two years ago, the first Entrepreneurship in Action class started two companies, one that produced uSuits -- collegiate-branded iPod covers -- the other made U-Guide, a publication for freshmen and returning students. Three students who founded the U-Guide purchased that business and continue to run it.

Besides the Advisor, last year's class also launched a company that made and sold Gopheropoly, a U-themed take on the classic board game. That company, though, did not go forward after the class ended.

So far, the four student companies have generated more than $150,000 in revenue and have donated more than $40,000 to the university, Stavig said.