The University of Missouri Entrepreneur Quest (EQ) program at the Griggs Innovators Nexus empowers students to start their own businesses during college, and executive director of entrepreneurship programs, there’s no better time
“Students get the support of the university, all of the resources we can provide, and opportunities to win money to launch their businesses,” Raymond said. “They also have a safety net and a built-in network of potential customers. That amount of support for entrepreneurship doesn’t happen very often once you’re in the real world.”
Some EQ graduates continue building their businesses, some pivot and pursue new venture ideas, and some gain more experience and skills by going back to school or working in industry. What they have in common is a passion for solving problems and a willingness to keep experimenting.
“Our students evolve,” said Greg Bier, entrepreneur in residence at the Griggs Nexus. “Often, the real opportunity is the second, third or fourth venture.”
Meet four founders who left EQ with confidence and a mindset that helped them achieve company milestones and make the most of new opportunities.
Co-founder of WaterfowlAI; creative technologist at World Wide Technology
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Andrew Kruszka, BS ’25, competed in EQ with Modern Hockey Training, virtual and augmented reality instruction for players and coaches, and planned to leverage his success by developing more proprietary VR training programs.
“I quickly learned that I cared more about the actual community and on-ice experience with the kids than I did the software,” Kruszka said. “I had to make a decision about where I could best spend my time, and I knew that coaching wasn’t going to be my long-term career.”
In 2024, Kruszka decided to put Modern Hockey on hold and began pursuing opportunities in the booming artificial intelligence (AI) space. A year later, he and Josh Hogan, BS ’98, founded WaterfowlAI and developed the company’s first product, BlindBook, a mobile hunt management platform that enables outfitters, land managers, clubs and other users to track, log and analyze hunting operations. Kruszka leads the technical side of the company.
“While I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, the Griggs Innovators Nexus is what really kickstarted my journey,” Kruszka said. “They care about students succeeding and always went the extra mile to support any ideas I had.”
Senior majoring in agricultural systems technology; founder and CEO of AcreView Analytics
Hometown: Patterson, Missouri
Senior Noah Graham credits faculty, classes, student organizations and the EQ program for helping him develop strong entrepreneurial skills and the confidence to launch AcreView Analytics, custom-built tools that give agricultural producers a more comprehensive understanding of their business finances.
“We help farmers break down their farming operation and analyze profitability by distinct enterprise,” Graham said. “The inspiration for the business actually began at home on our family farm in Southeast Missouri.”
Graham noticed that farmers in his community were struggling to make important financial decisions without clear numbers to back them up. He wanted to develop resources that would provide them with detailed financial insights.
A watershed moment for Graham was being able to hire his first employee. He’s also working with his first international client, a cattle backgrounding enterprise in Australia. His current focus is boosting brand awareness nationally so he can scale the business and provide services for more farmers.
“The EQ program absolutely was pivotal in my development of this company,” Graham said. “It definitely took me outside of my comfort zone, but I soon realized that’s where true growth comes from.”
Founder of Partner for Better
Hometown: Camdenton, Missouri
Kasey Hammock, BSW ’16, MPA ’18, PhD ’24, founded Partner for Better in 2022 to address one of the primary challenge nonprofits face: a lack of resources. She wanted to provide affordable services, such as grant writing, program evaluation, training and strategic planning, that could help them build their capacity.
“Partner for Better serves two primary client groups: nonprofit and social good organizations and the funders who invest in them,” Hammock said. “Our core focus is on grassroots, small and growing nonprofits that are essential to community health and economic vitality but often lack access to high-quality strategic support.”
In the last five years, Hammock’s team has helped more than 150 clients. So far, Partner for Better has helped local nonprofits secure about $12.5 million in grant funds and has trained more than 5,000 nonprofit employees. The company also has six team members now and a dedicated downtown office in Columbia, Missouri. The goal going forward is to provide services to more organizations in rural communities.
“The EQ program gave me the space to shift my perspective from nonprofit employee to business owner,” Hammock said. “My advice would be to take advantage of these resources while you are in school. It may be difficult to again have the space in your time to dedicate to your business.”
Informatics doctoral student focusing on bioinformatics; founder of TalkStride
Hometown: Kansas City, Missouri
Nathan Bresette’s ultimate goal is to become a professor and conduct Alzheimer’s research, but he also wants to run a startup company on the side to satisfy his entrepreneurial itch.
“Entrepreneurship is a true passion of mine,” Bresette, a doctoral student, said. “While some startups fail, including some of my own, I plan to continue learning, enjoying the process and doing my best every single day.”
Bresette took first place in EQ last year with Rgent, a contextually aware AI tool that his customers downloaded to make the R programming language in RStudio easier to use. What he didn’t anticipate, however, was that RStudio would later launch a built-in AI assistant that did the same thing and made Rgent obsolete.
“Ultimately, I feel okay about it,” Bressette said. “I learned an incredible amount, made some great connections, and it allowed me to pivot to my next startup, TalkStride.”
Bresette created his new TalkStride app to help people improve their speaking skills.
“Speaking is a muscle,” he said. “If you practice it intentionally every day, you will get better at it. The app is designed to facilitate that daily practice by gamifying it.”
Read more from the Division of Research, Innovation and Impact
How to participate:EQ is an opportunity for full-time Mizzou undergraduate and graduate students to translate their ideas and side hustles into scalable ventures. Those chosen to participate in the fall semester program have an opportunity to win seed funding from a $30,000 prize pool for their businesses and receive coaching from successful entrepreneurs. Apply by 5 p.m. Sept. 3.
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