JAKE LACEY/Arizona Daily Wildcat Karl Eller, author of "Integrity is All You've Got: And Seven Other Lessons of the Entrepreneurial Life," signs his new book for pre-business junior Melvin Cooper yesterday afternoon in the UofA Bookstore.

Business majors were in for a treat when the college's namesake spoke and promoted his new book.

More than 350 students packed into Berger Auditorium last night to hear local businessman Karl Eller talk about his new book, "Integrity is All You've Got."

Eller began his 50-minute discourse with the reason he established the Eller Center for the Study of the Private Market Economy at the UA in 1983.

UA alumnus Eller said he first got the idea of starting the program after buying his first company for $5 million.

"I had such a tough time raising money that I decided that if I could start an entrepreneurial program at the UA I would," Eller said.

He told the crowd of mostly students that his first entrepreneurial venture almost did not make a profit.

Eller, a sophomore at the UA in the late 1940s, said he saw a young woman taking copious notes in their required humanities class. Eller approached her about typing up her notes to sell to students taking the class next year, splitting the proceeds from the sale evenly.

The woman agreed, and Eller spent the summer in his fraternity house copying and binding the notes. In the first few weeks of the next semester, Eller said sales were meager. It was only when a professor threatened to fail anyone with copies of the notes did sales take off.

Eller said it was when he was on the verge of financial ruin, when his lawyers were telling him to declare bankruptcy, that he knew integrity was the key to success.

As the Chief Executive Officer of Circle K during the 1980s and early '90s, Eller said it was a confluence of events that led to dire financial problems.

He said a competitor selling gas at a loss and new real estate tax laws contributed to the financial problems of Circle K.

"All hell broke loose," Eller said.

After losing his job, Eller vowed not to declare bankruptcy, even if it meant losing his seaside home in La Jolla, Calif.

"I had to work my way out of this," Eller said.

Eller said he visited with his lawyer and every creditor he had to make arrangements.

Eller went on to having a series of successful business ventures, including partnering Columbia Pictures with Coca Cola and building the world's largest outdoor advertising business.

Students said they liked hearing the stories that shaped Eller's life.

Anuj Aggarwal, a business administration graduate student, said Eller was one of the best speakers he has heard at the business college.

"Everyone thinks that businessmen are greedy; I liked how he emphasized making business deals where both sides are happy," Aggarwal said.

Robin Meeks, a business administration graduate student, said Eller is a good role model for business students.

"He embodies the characteristics this college teaches," Meeks said.

Eller said his goal for his book was to get colleges to adopt it as part of their curriculum. He is donating all proceeds from the sale of his new book to Eller College.