John Wetter BS’23, MS’24 founded Black Swan Street, a blog of new online sales that grew up so quickly that it was bought less than a year after its launch.
Many entrepreneurs dream of starting a business that takes off quickly, and most years of work by creating only one to make the effort fail.
For John Wetter BS’23, MS’24, it didn’t take long to find success. Less than a year after starting a blog of business news, he sold it to a larger company when he was a graduate student from the University of Texas in Dallas.
“I have always loved everything about entrepreneurship and business,” said Wetter. “I always knew that I wanted to get involved in business, but in particular in an area where I could have an impact.”
Follower of Financial Business News, Wetter launched the Black Swan Street blog in 2023 in his first year as a finance graduate in the Naveen Jindal School of Management (JSOM). The name of the blog refers to an unexpected event of Wall Street with a strong impact which generally results in a negative turn for actions. Wetter appointed his blog in the hope that users could avoid a Black Swan event by following his news updates.
“It was a great feeling to have a business interested in buying (our company). It was great to see that what I was doing and that people noticed. »»
John Wetter BS’23, MS’24
Shortly after the launch of Black Swan Street, Wetter transformed the blog into an online newsletter. Its subscriber base and advertising revenue increased regularly. In nine months, he had 5,500 subscribers.
“Over the years of looking at the financial markets, I noticed that the media were often biased towards the negative,” said Wetter. “The negative content meant more clicks and more income, but I wanted Black Swan Street to be completely impartial and directly in the point of the presentation of the news. This is where the growth of my subscribers comes from. »»
As a word on his newsletter propagates, he drew the attention of a company that extended his offers by buying existing financial information sites. The company, with more than a million followers on social networks, approached Wetter and Sam Feldman BS’23, Chief of the Black Swan Street and Graduated Student Colleague of the Jindal School, on purchase of their startup. At first, he was reluctant, but after a month of negotiations, they accepted an agreement.
“It was a great feeling to have a business interested in buying (our company),” said Wetter. “It was great to see that what I was doing and people noticed.”
Wet Plus attributes a large part of his success in his time as a graduate student of Jindal School. He said the greatest impact came from teachers.
John Wetter BS’23, MS’24 enjoys a moment with his family after obtaining his master’s degree in 2024. From left to right: Jenney Wetter; Jeff Wetter Ms’94, Mba’97; Jill Wetter; Itzel Estrada BS’20; And Jeff Wetter Bs’19, Mba’21.
“The teachers of JSOM’s higher school are brilliant people, and it’s inspiring to be in their lessons,” he said.
One of his most influential teachers was Dr Christian von DrathenDeputy professor guest in finance and managerial economy, who said Wetter said the most difficult class he has ever taken, financial modeling for evaluation. Weet credits Dr Han XiaAssociate professor of finance and management economy, with the springboard of his love for the study of finances.
Wetter said that his experience at Jindal school had given him the opportunity to meet several people from the industry who visited the campus, including the Dallas investment banker Robert Rough. Wet Plus was so impressed by Roughh that he approached it after the course, and they ended up lunch.
“It was a great opportunity to talk to someone who has so much experience that he was ready to share with me,” said Wetter.
Black Swan Street was not Wetter’s first commercial enterprise. During his first year as business administration Student, he launched a moving company and, at some point, he employed 10 UTD students.
“I thought that a moving company was something in which I could succeed because it involves a simplistic commercial model,” said Wetter. “I did it for a year, and it was quite successful, but I closed it because I did not see a lot of longevity in the business. I wanted to do something bigger.
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When asked why he had chosen to go to Ut Dallas, it turns out that the answer was easy – it is a family tradition.
Wetter’s father, Jeff Wetter Ms’94, Mba’97, and his older brother, also appointed Jeff Wetter Bs’19, Mba’21, are elders, while his younger sister, Jill, is a International political economy Junior in the School of Economic, Political and Political Sciences. Although Wetter applied to other schools and was accepted, the professional success of his family was a sufficient reason for him to follow their traces.
“My father looked for a place to go for his higher education where his diplomas would appreciate over time and that pushed him to UTD,” said Wetter. “My brother also had great experiences at the UTD, and I was looking for the same thing. I was ready enough from the start to go to UTD.
Wetter is now his first year in Jindal School Master of Business Administration program, and he is looking for a job now that his startup has been sold. Wetter hopes to win a role in the investment bank or commercial advice, and although he was young, he said that he had already learned a lot about what makes a business succeed.
“I now have a much better understanding of what a lasting business looks like and what has the longevity and what is not,” said Wetter.