Max Korth ’25, Coon Rapids, had often thought about starting his own business some day. Little did he know that one day would be during his senior year at the University of Minnesota Morris.
As part of an upper level management course, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, Korth and two classmates started Prairie Paws, a dog treat company.
The class was taught by UMN Morris alumnus Eric Newell ’96, one of the founders of Stoneridge Software, a Microsoft partner firm. As part of the course, Newell required the students to work in teams to start a business.
Korth was randomly paired with two other students from the class, one of whom had sold dog treats in her hometown to help pay for college. After some deliberations, the team ultimately decided to build off that model.
As part of the class, the students had to determine who would be the company’s chief financial officer, chief executive officer, and chief marketing officer. Korth became the CFO, but he learned pretty quickly that the title didn’t limit what he could contribute to the business.
“I did all the finances, of course, but I also did the baking of all the treats. I did the packaging and I made the logo.”
Each of the teams received $400 for startup costs, which was provided by donor funds.
“That took some of our aversion to risk away—having some money in there that wasn't necessarily ours, especially as a group who didn't know each other well and not 100% sure of each other yet. Right away, we needed to buy 200 dog treat bags and this gave us a little bit of cushion.”
Korth said there were still some difficult decisions, such as what to charge for the treats.
“That was definitely harder than I anticipated, trying to calculate labor that goes into it, the bag cost, the labels—how much does that cost us? I went through it to figure out what kind of profits we'd be making at different prices. But it came down to, how much labor are we putting into this?”
Korth said another challenge was to select a recipe for the treats. Korth was particularly interested in creating simple treats with quality ingredients, something that he’d feel good about giving to his dog, Oliver, a miniature Australian Shepherd that Korth got during his freshman year on campus.
Korth’s decision to attend UMN Morris was an economic decision for him. “I love the small town feel is one big thing, and small class sizes. But mainly, I knew coming here I could afford it better than if I went to the Twin Cities.”
Korth isn’t sure if he’d have had an opportunity like the entrepreneurship course at another campus.
“It's so different from my other classes, especially the actual hands-on experience of starting a business. It takes a lot of thought and effort, along with blood, sweat and tears. Hearing from someone who has experience was very helpful. Eric was very approachable and I was impressed with everyone in the class. I think this course made me push to have a little more confidence. I'm very glad that I had this opportunity.”
Korth and Connor McCarty, one of the original partners, are continuing to operate Prairie Paws through spring semester.