Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/608904
w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m D e c e m b e r 2 0 15 • I NSIGH T | 27 you're going to get called again the next night. e goal is, if you take the time to solve the problem, you generally solve it permanently." When Prange was bought in 1992 by Younkers, the much larger company embraced the technology Zeise had developed and also introduced him to new contacts at large retailers, including East Coast department store giant Boscov's. Working independently from Green Bay, he developed a solution for shipping and tracking furniture for Boscov's. at's also when he launched ZyQuest as an IT staffing company. During that time, he worked — and billed — a staggering 100 to 120 hours per week, sleeping about two hours per night over the course of 18 months, including weekends and holidays. (He now works about 60 hours per week.) ough many call him a risk taker, he is very calculated in every project and has seen considerable success. With Zytax, Breakthrough Fuel and Aver Inc., "each one has returned 10 times or more on my investment," he says. "Of the companies we start, none have failed." Because his own company and those who he has helped start are private entities, he won't divulge his income or revenues. He laughs and says, "I'm not a billionaire. I don't consider myself 'arriving,' and I can't even think about retiring. Why would anybody want to retire?" His passion is growing businesses in Northeast Wisconsin. "I believe Northeast Wisconsin is a special place," he says. "ere's a long history of innovation here. e nice thing about technology is you can do it anywhere, anytime. You don't have to be in Silicon Valley to create technology. "And there's a lot of talent here. We've got a strong work ethic in Northeast Wisconsin — people who understand what it means to actually create professional solutions and solve problems. "Our goal is to build on that more here. Instead of being flyover country, we want to be touchdown country!" the fundraising activities of schools and youth programs. In addition, ZyQuest launched the nonprofit HuTerra Foundation. It has uploaded every charity registered with the IRS, as well as clubs, schools and faith-based organizations. It offers a way for nonprofits to easily invite people to raise money, whether it includes product sales or direct donations. "We created facilities that automate the whole thing," Zeise explains. "Kids don't have to go door-to-door, all they have to do is send out emails about it, tweet about it, post on Facebook and sell the products. We negotiate with the vendors, and we earn money off the vendor side because we automate it and make it easier for them. Kids don't touch the money anymore, it's all transparent; it's all trackable." Unlike conventional crowdfunding websites, which keep a hey 10 to 20 percent or more, the HuTerra Foundation keeps 3 to 5 percent on donations to cover transactional fees and provides event management, donor management, volunteer management and website development. As of October, it had raised more than $5 million for nonprofits. Habitat for Humanity was an early adopter and uses it to raise money in 26 states. If every Habitat for Humanity chapter used it, Zeise estimates it could save as much as $15 million to $20 million per year on soware, website development and surcharges related to fees. Scoring success in 'touchdown' country Z eise has come a long way since he began his career as director of IT for H.C. Prange in the 1980s. He worked long hours and learned the value of never repeating the same mistake. "I consider myself a developer, not a technology person," he says. "I think of technology as a means to an end, not the end. It becomes a self-preservation thing. If you get a call in the middle of the night and you have to solve a problem, you can do the easy thing, which is fix the system — but then Bob Atwell, chairman and chief executive officer, Nicolet National Bank Randall Lawton, chairman, C.A. Lawton Co. Rob Riordan, executive vice president and board member, Nsight Paul Schneider, managing director, Schneider Enterprises and SLK Finance Paul Summerside, chairman, Aurora BayCare Medical Center; president, BayCare Joint Ventures Al Zeise, president, ZyQuest Not pictured: Larry Treankler, Bay Tek Games ZyQuest Ventures Foundry Eleven Green Bay area executives are the core members of ZyQuest Ventures Foundry, a group formed to solve industry's problems and create more start-ups. Tom Atwell, commercial lender, Nicolet National Bank Craig Dickman, CEO and chief innovation officer, Breakthrough Fuel Jill Enos, managing director, ZyQuest Ventures Foundry Alex Lawton, CEO, C.A. Lawton Co.; managing director, SLK Finance