At MSU, entrepreneurship might be a new trend.
Although the Spartan entrepreneurs who created Spartan App and www.coursehack.it kept their product local, alumni Jeff and Michael Thelen took their idea to South America.
Alumni take business idea to South America
M. Thelen
The Thelen brothers said an MSU education gave them the experience and push to start a bank in Chile.
The brothers’ interest in business began when each founded a student organization while at MSU. Jeff Thelen founded Students Consulting for Nonprofit Organizations to help students gain experience in finances by helping nonprofits with their finances, something a nonprofit normally could not afford. Michael Thelen founded the Spartan Global Development Fund, a charity organization to help small businesses in other countries get loans.
Studying abroad while at MSU was one way the brothers were able to experience and enjoy being outside of the U.S.
The combination of the growing economy in Latin America and a love for the area pushed the Thelen brothers to move to South America and find jobs in the financial field.
“The economy is growing there at rates much faster than the U.S.,” Jeff Thelen said. “That created a lot of new opportunities for jobs.”
But the brothers found a flaw in the financial system there: high interest rates customers pay at banks in South America. Michael Thelen said the interest rate on his Chilean credit card is 62 percent, compared to 8 percent on his American credit card.
To combat these high interest rates, Michael and Jeff Thelen decided to create Edmond, a bank slated to begin in Colombia.
The brothers received a $40,000 grant from Start-Up Chile, a program created by the Chilean government that gives funds to entrepreneurs globally to help Edmond.
Helen Dashney, director of the Financial Markets Institute in the Eli Broad College of Business, said she was not surprised the Thelen brothers wanted to start a business, knowing their history.
“That’s their mode — what they start they follow through on,” Dashney said.
Dashney said students can learn from the Thelen brothers, particularly the benefits to expanding out of the U.S.
The brothers were awarded the Broad College Young Alumni Achievement Award this year for their business efforts.
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“Entrepreneurism is like a new trend here in the state (of Michigan) that’s just getting started,” Michael Thelen said.
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