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Technology entrepreneurs Michael Farmer and Joseph Galante will share their stories as part of the 'Entrepreneur Direct' speaker series at Fort Hays State University. They will present from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, in the Eagle Communications Hall of the Robbins Center at FHSU.

The event, which is presented by the College of Business and Entrepreneurship, is free and open to students, faculty and the public.

Michael "Mike" Farmer, now the CEO and co-founder of Leap2, has worked with new technology ventures at the senior manager level at several companies. He has co-founded four new ventures, raised over $7 million of early-stage capital, and authored or co-authored 10 patents. Farmer has an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lally School of Technology and Management. He currently serves on U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts' Science and Technology Advisory Board, the John O. Farmer Inc. Board of Directors, and Leap2, LLC.

Joseph "Joe" Galante graduated in 2007 from FHSU's Department of Management and Marketing. He is a member of the Enterprise Customers and Technology Partnerships team at Square Inc., one of the fastest growing companies in the world. He started at the San Francisco-based technology company two years ago and has been part of its growth from startup stage to a global company processing more than $15 billion in payments a year. Before that, he worked as a financial reporter covering Silicon Valley for Bloomberg News in San Francisco and New York. While a student, he worked as a reporter for The Hays Daily News.

Entrepreneur Direct is an FHSU speaker series that features successful entrepreneurs in an informal setting accessible to students, faculty and the public. The program is intended to connect students with successful entrepreneurs who have stories and advice to share. A panel asks questions about entrepreneurship and encourages questions and interaction with the audience.