Michael Ramlet, ’09 BSB, named UMN Entrepreneur of the Year
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
By Charly Haley
For growing the business intelligence company Morning Consult from an idea to a global firm with daily impact and a $1B market cap, its founder and CEO, Michael Ramlet, ’09 BSB, has been named the 2024 University of Minnesota Entrepreneur of the Year.
Ramlet will be honored on May 8 as part of the 12th annual Founders Day celebration which highlights entrepreneurship across the UMN System.
“This recognition is very meaningful to me because of where it comes from,” said Ramlet. “I had an amazing student experience at the University of Minnesota and developed lasting relationships with friends and faculty leaders that made a huge impact on my career.”
The company started while Ramlet was still a student at the Carlson School. At first, it was a daily newsletter about healthcare industry and policy. Ramlet expanded into political polling after working at an internship in Washington, D.C., during the development of the Affordable Care Act. The company’s first poll was about whether young and uninsured people would sign up for health insurance through the government marketplace.
From there, Morning Consult grew into a prominent business intelligence company, surveying “thousands of people around the world every day, pairing that exclusive, forward-looking survey data with analytical applications to offer a distinct, competitive advantage for our users,” according to the firm’s website. Clients range from Fortune 500 companies to governments and nonprofits to media organizations.
“We all recognized as a student that Michael was very ambitious,” said John Stavig, managing director of the Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship. “It’s been amazing to see him develop his initial newsletter into a sophisticated global firm at the leading edge of real-time market intelligence.”
The Holmes Center coordinates the annual selection of the University of Minnesota’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, seeking to identify one exemplary alum who founded and is currently leading an enduring business, who supports the University and local community, and who serves as a role model to students and fellow alumni.
Along with honoring Ramlet, the Founders Day celebration will showcase prototypes and start-ups from across campus, in addition to recognizing several start-ups from UMN Technology Commercialization. The celebration will be from 4:30–7:00 p.m. May 8 in the Toaster Innovation Hub at Walter Library on the East Bank campus of the UMN Twin Cities.