Isaac Gardner didn’t arrive at the University of Michigan planning to launch a startup. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to do after graduation.
“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do for my career, and I was curious about entrepreneurship,” he says.
While exploring the course catalog, Isaac found ENTR 411: Entrepreneurship Practicum through the Center for Entrepreneurship. The class sounded interesting, so he decided to enroll.
“I had never seriously considered entrepreneurship before ENTR 411,” Isaac says.
That course changed his direction. Isaac entered with curiosity and left with the idea and prototype for Ticko, a verified and secure marketplace where students can instantly buy, sell, and bid on student tickets.
Today, the BBA student and Entrepreneurship minor is working to transform Ticko from a Michigan-built solution into a national brand.
Building Ticko
Ticko calls itself “The Depop of student tickets.”
Available on the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and web, the marketplace supports student tickets for Michigan football, basketball, and hockey. Students can list tickets for sale, purchase available tickets, or bid on the amount they are willing to pay.
The idea began taking shape in ENTR 411, where Isaac learned how to move from identifying a problem to building a business around a potential solution.
He was taught by Grace Hsia Haberl, whose experience founding Warmilu brought the realities of entrepreneurship into the classroom.
“She brought proven entrepreneurial background from her startup Warmilu and lots of positive energy,” Isaac says.
Grace’s stories also helped Isaac see entrepreneurship as more than launching a product or generating revenue. When she shared how Warmilu’s technology helped babies, Isaac saw how building a venture could directly improve people’s lives.
“When she showed us pictures and told us stories about helping babies, it became easy to understand why entrepreneurship is a joyful path: you are helping people,” he says. “Whether it’s nonprofit or for-profit entrepreneurship, you need to solve people’s problems.”
For Isaac, solving those problems would begin with listening.
Starting with Empathy
“The entrepreneurial mindset is thinking empathetically and constantly about the problems stakeholders face,” Isaac says.
Empathy, he learned, requires more than recognizing that a problem exists. Entrepreneurs must understand how people experience that problem, what matters most to them, and how a potential solution could fit into their lives.
In ENTR 411, Isaac learned to conduct customer discovery interviews. He completed around 50 during the course alone, approaching each one as a conversation rather than a rigid list of questions.
“The more dynamic the conversations were, the more I learned about the issues students faced,” he says.
Those conversations shaped Ticko’s product.
Isaac heard that students were especially sensitive to high ticket prices. In response, Ticko developed a bid feature that allows buyers to post the amount they are willing to pay. Sellers can then instantly sell their ticket to the highest bidder, giving them greater convenience and certainty while creating an opportunity for buyers to save money.
“The bid feature has been people’s favorite feature by far,” Isaac says.
Customer discovery also influenced where students could access Ticko. Isaac learned that students primarily relied on their phones to buy and sell tickets, which inspired the team to make Ticko available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
The conversations did not simply validate Isaac’s original idea. They helped him build a more useful solution than he might have created on his own.
Learning Beyond the Launch
Isaac continued to use his customer discovery skills during the Zell Lurie Institute’s Dare to Dream Venture Shaping Phase I. More importantly, he did not stop listening once Ticko launched.
“I believe entrepreneurs should constantly think about the problems people face, even after the business launches,” he says.
Isaac tabled across campus, pitched Ticko, and listened to students describe their ticket-buying experiences hundreds of times. Their feedback shaped the platform, but it also taught him how to communicate its value more clearly.
Initially, Isaac described Ticko as “the easiest and fastest way to buy and sell your student ticket securely.” It was accurate, but it did not always help students immediately understand the experience.
Then he began calling it “The Depop of student tickets.”
Students responded.
That comparison helped Isaac understand how to introduce Ticko through social media, flyers, and news coverage. The questions students repeatedly asked also showed him which information to include in the company’s FAQ.
Each interaction became another opportunity to learn, adjust, and make the experience easier for the next person.
From an Idea to a Business
Customer discovery was only one of the skills Isaac developed through CFE.
ENTR 411 also introduced him to the less visible work behind building a venture, including operating agreements, taxes, equity, business structure, and marketing. Those topics became immediately relevant as Ticko grew beyond a class project.
“There were a bunch of topics in ENTR 411 that are relevant to Ticko to this day,” Isaac says. “I’ve applied what I learned about operating agreements, customer discovery, taxes, equity, structure, and marketing techniques more times than I can count.”
The course also surrounded Isaac with students who were interested in creating, experimenting, and solving problems together.
“I loved that I was surrounded by like-minded people in my entrepreneurship classes,” he says. “It’s a great way to build a team and pursue ideas that you think will change the world for the better.”
ENTR 411 did not hand Isaac a finished business. It gave him practical tools, a community, and a place to begin turning his curiosity into action.
Finding Joy in the Everyday Work
For Isaac, the most fulfilling part of entrepreneurship is not limited to launching new features or planning Ticko’s growth. He also finds meaning in the everyday tasks that come with serving customers.
“Building a company is genuinely the most exciting and fulfilling thing I’ve done, even something as mundane as customer service emails,” he says.
Sometimes, Isaac will be in the middle of a conversation with friends when a customer asks for help. He will stop and respond.
“It’s because I love my customers: real people who are benefiting and trust what I’ve created,” he says. “It’s a surreal feeling.”
That connection reflects what first inspired Isaac in Grace’s classroom. Entrepreneurship could be joyful because it allowed him to help people. Every support request is a reminder that a real student is relying on something he built.
The work may not always look exciting from the outside, but it represents the trust at the center of Ticko.
Growing Beyond Michigan
Ticko currently supports student tickets for Michigan football, basketball, and hockey, but Isaac’s vision for the company, shared with co-founder Zach DeVivo, extends beyond Ann Arbor.
“I plan to build Ticko into a national brand,” he says.
According to Isaac, the team is in conversations with other schools and seeking an official university partnership. Its larger goal is ambitious: to help end student ticket scams by providing students with a secure place to buy and sell tickets.
Whatever direction Ticko takes, Isaac knows that entrepreneurship will remain part of his future.
“After Ticko, I plan to continue entrepreneurship,” he says.
He entered ENTR 411 without seriously considering that path. Now, building a business has become the most exciting and fulfilling work he has experienced.
New Skills On and Off the Court
Ticko may take up much of Isaac’s time, but it is not his only focus at Michigan.
This year, he joined the Michigan Table Tennis team. Although he has played casually for more than a decade, this is his first opportunity to participate in a formal setting.
“I’m excited to hone my skills, learn new serves, and make friends with a shared love for ping pong,” he says.
Then he adds another goal: “Of course, I’m also excited to tell everyone about Ticko.”
Whether he is speaking with students at a table, answering customer questions, or meeting new teammates, Isaac continues to do what helped him build Ticko in the first place: connect with people and listen.
Start with Curiosity
Isaac’s advice for students considering a CFE course is simple.
“Do it!” he says. “CFE is an excellent place to learn about entrepreneurship, from building an idea to building a business.”
Students do not need to arrive with a company, a co-founder, or even a clear career plan. Isaac did not. He started with curiosity and a course he found in the catalog.
From there, he learned to conduct customer interviews, build a prototype, listen to hundreds of students, and turn their feedback into a growing venture.
For students wondering whether entrepreneurship could be part of their Michigan journey, the first step may be as simple as finding an ENTR course that interests them and giving it a try. The idea may come later.