This week marks the 30th anniversary of the first two investments by Venture Investors LLC, the oldest and largest venture capital firm headquartered in Wisconsin. Those investments in Office Solutions and Promega were successes, and our firm has now invested in its fifth fund and has $200 million under management.

That makes it a good time to reflect on what has been accomplished — and how far we still have to go to create a truly competitive entrepreneurial economy in Wisconsin.

Image: Mark Hoffman The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery is a public/private research facility at the heart of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The university is much more friendly to entrepreneurs than it was in the past.