Local leaders show how success can come from setbacks

Ward4 hosted the Startup Horror Stories Halloween Event on Monday.

The event, emceed by venture investor Chris Abele, brought together several mentors from the Milwaukee Venture Mentoring Service to share a few professional setbacks they faced while building their startup businesses.

Mike Malatesta, founder of Advanced Waste Services, the author of Owner Shift: How Getting Selfish Got Me Unstuck and the host of the business podcast How’d It Happen, shared the story learned the value of being a clear communicator by leading his company through a crisis.

Lincoln Fowler, one of the three founding partners of Colectivo Coffee, shared with the audience the costly lesson he learned about the high price of bargain hunting.

Serial entrepreneur Kyle Weatherly share with the audience the problems that resulted when he “got ahead of my skis.” The Frontdesk founder candidly shared the reality behind his headline-making business deals.

Ray Seaver, current founder and CEO of zizzl, discussed some unexpected challenges he faced at the helm of bswift, and the contract stipulation that nearly jeopardized his exit from the company.

Palermo’s CEO, Giacomo Fallucca, discussed a time when his company nearly closed because leadership made the error of becoming complacent.

In the coming weeks, we’ll take a closer look at these Milwaukee business leaders and the crises that taught them some of their most profound career lessons.