Madison is Madison.

Erik Iverson, the incoming managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, used that statement to describe the entrepreneurial qualities of the city during the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference held Wednesday at the Alliant Energy Center.

Iverson explained that Madison shouldn’t be compared to cities such as Seattle or Austin because it has the requisite ingredients such as innovation centers, entrepreneurial spirit and attitude to be successful on its own.

“Madison is already great,” Iverson said. “It’s poised, along with WARF, to do absolutely fabulous things.”

The Moorhead, Minn., native, who has experience at the Infectious Disease Research Institute in Seattle and the University of Washington, also praised the University of Wisconsin system.

“The University of Wisconsin is a true top-tier, global university,” Iverson said. “(Also), the 26 campuses in the UW System are unified, and that is truly powerful.”

Iverson will start at WARF on July 1, following Carl Gulbrandsen’s retirement on June 30.