Introduction

Hi, welcome to my blog! My name is Matt Trent and I am a graduate student studying mechanical engineering and business at The University of Tennessee. I am a wanna be entrepreneur and I set up this site to tell you about my journey. Over the next few months I will have a chance to meet and talk with several founders of technology based start ups in the Knoxville area. These are guys who have been really successful at taking an idea and turning it into something valuable. I will readily admit that there are no superstars like Steve Jobs or Dean Kamen on my list of visits but each of the people I will hear from and tell you about has done something amazing. They have each created something from nothing! I am hoping to learn from the mistakes and misfortunes as well as the triumphs of people who have already been through the entrepreneurial experience. I will be sharing what I learn here on this blog for you to read and gain insight from or to laugh at or do whatever you want with. Here is a list of some of the people you can expect to hear about in the coming weeks:

Dr. Lee Martin, iPix
Chuck Witkowski, PDI
Joe Matteo, MicroTypes
Mark Medley, CTI
Jeff Bohanan, Protomet
Bert Ackermann, Spinlab
Andrew Stephan, Material Innovations
Terry Douglas, Provision
Barry Goss, Pro2Serve
John Platallero, EventBooking
John Morris, Tech2020, NetLearning, Sunlight Direct
Vig Sherrill, Aldis
Tony Buell, EnergX LLC
Mike Carroll, MKTechnology

From time to time I may also write about books I am reading or other work I am doing. You may also find ramblings here about any of my wide ranging interests which may include architecture, design, product development, business strategy and maybe even some fun stuff like music, art, or new gadgets. My goal above all else is for this site to not be a complete waste of your time. Hope you Enjoy!