Tag Archives: college entrepreneurship
Keep It Warm: One-For-One, Warmth-For-Warmth
Keep It Warm: One-For-One, Warmth-For-Warmth from Matthew Racz on Vimeo.
It used to be quite uncommon for businesses to have a social mission attached to their business model. Revenue was the main driver and all metrics were tied to growth. Luckily, our generation of innovators have shifted their priorities: Innovation through changing the world. Jeff Savio, founder of Keep It Warm and recent graduate from Villanova University, is a part of this generation of innovators looking to make a positive impact on the world. I am honored to have him on this episode of Start It Up TV!
Keep It Warm is a socially responsible apparel company specializing in winter wear. For every product sold, Keep It Warm will donate one to someone in need: one-for-one, warmth-for-warmth. Furthermore, Keep It Warm acts as a promoter of deprivation awareness by supplying happiness, hope, and comfort to underprivileged corners of the world.
Keep It Warm was born in 2011 because of a life experience Jeff had when he was a senior in High School. After going on a service trip to the Lakota Tribe in South Dakota – one of the poorest counties in the country – he knew that he had to do something to make a difference. Enjoy this episode as we dive into the business who is making a direct impact on the lives of those who have lost hope.
About Jeffrey Savio
Jeff Savio is a 2012 gr
aduate from Villanova University, where he majored in Finance and International Business with minors in Political Science and Entrepreneurship. He is originally from Voorhees, NJ, where he attended Bishop Eustace Preparatory School. Passionate about helping others, Mr. Savio participated in many community service initiatives throughout high school, ultimately embarking on an outreach trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Pine Ridge, SD. These experiences motivated Mr. Savio to begin his own initiative to help others.
In the Spring of 2011, Mr. Savio founded Keep it Warm with classmates at Villanova. In addition to having worked in financial services, Mr. Savio also has non-profit international experience through previous engagements with UK Sustainable Investment and Finance in London, UK, and the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament in Rome, Italy.
Mr. Savio is extremely passionate about socially responsible business and entrepreneurship, and he hopes Keep it Warm will serve as another example that businesses can be successful while making a positive impact in the world.
Links to Connect with Jeffrey:
Feel free to connect with Jeffrey, browse his socially responsible products, or simply let him know you loved the interview!
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/keepitwarm
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/keepitwarmteam
- Jeffrey Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreysavio
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Start It Up TV is still growing into what it needs to be. We are trying our best to make this site as awesome and legitimate for our viewers as possible. If you have any ideas on how to make this site better, want to do business with Start It Up TV, or would like to be interviewed for one of the episodes, please feel free to use our Contact Form or E-mail Matt@startitup.tv!
A big thank you to Alek Rost for the intro to Start It Up TV. Check him out at AlekRost.com
CityRyde: Why Pursuing Entrepreneurship Post Grad was the Best Move
How to Start a Bike Sharing Company – Jason Meinzer of City Ryde from Matthew Racz on Vimeo.
Once you graduate, what do you plan on doing with your life? Will you pursue the typical 9-5 job, work your way up the chain, and retire at age 60? Or will you pursue your dreams, create something of your own, follow a passion, and live every day full of excitement and wonder?
Jason Meinzer, Drexel University Alum and Co-Founder/COO of CityRyde, chose the latter. He and his business partner, Timothy Ericson, started CityRyde immediately after graduating college. “We boast a team of credible leaders and subject-matter experts well connected to key thought leaders in sustainable transportation worldwide. Our expertise allows us to assist our clients with every stage of their bike-sharing initiatives, from conception to implementation.” Although it was a bumpy ride getting to where they are today (which I am sure was half the fun), Jason and Timothy have grown their bike sharing business into quite a success.
Check out this interview with Jason as he shares his experiences taking the plunge into the startup world immediately after graduating college, his journey finding his niche, and growing his business into one of the premier thought leaders in the bike-sharing movement.
About Jason Meinzer
Jason’s extensive software development experience, coupled with his international environmental acumen, was crucial to CityRyde’s development of the revolutionary Inspire software, designed to sit on top of existing applications being used by bike-share operators. He has been a database administrator at Unisys and a software business analyst for Merck & Co., as well as working for the Philadelphia Department of Commerce. A native of Hershey, Pa., he graduated summa cum laude from Drexel University with a degree in Business Administration with a dual concentration in Management Information Systems and Entrepreneurship.
Links to Connect with Jason:
Feel free to connect with Jason, ask him some questions, or simply let him know you loved the interview!
Show Some Love for Start It Up TV
Quick Note
Start It Up TV is still growing into what it needs to be. We are trying our best to make this site as awesome and legitimate for our viewers as possible. If you have any ideas on how to make this site better, want to do business with Start It Up TV, or would like to be interviewed for one of the episodes, please feel free to use our Contact Form or E-mail Matt@startitup.tv!
A big thank you to Alek Rost for the intro to Start It Up TV. Check him out at AlekRost.com
The Hoot App: Turning Facebook into a College Study Tool
The Hoot App: Turning Facebook into a College Study Tool from Matthew Racz on Vimeo.
Want Audio Only? You got it!
This interview is with Michael Koetting, the idea man behind the Hoot Facebook App. Hoot.Me is a Facebook application that allows you see what your friends are working on scholastically and collaboratewith them inside of Facebook. It’s a great new Facebook App allowing you to turn your Facebook account into a powerful college study tool. Michael has two business partners, Sid Upadhyay and Gaurav Sanghani. Sid is the CTO, where he oversees all technical decisions and implementations. Gaurav is the Senior Developer and works closely with Sid on the technical end. He is responsible for engineering most backend components.
Michael was an exceptionally awesome guest and shared tons of advice for others looking to create a Facebook app. During the interview, we talked about:
- Where the idea and inspiration came from to create the Hoot Facebook Application
- His experiences getting funding from and working with DreamIt Ventures
- Market validating and testing his application
- What really goes into creating, launching and running a successful college business
About Michael Koetting
Michael is a student at The University of Texas at Austin studying Finance in the Business Honors Program. Since starting his own disc jockey business in middle school, he has had a passion for entrepreneurialism. After five years of giving people a reason to keep on dancing, Michael wants to now give students a reason to keep on learning. Today, he and his team are building a knowledge network that changes the game for education.
Links to Connect with Michael and Hoot:
Let Michael know you saw him on Start It Up TV and show some support for the Hoot Facebook App:
Show Some Love for Start It Up TV
Quick Note
Start It Up TV is still growing into what it needs to be. We are trying our best to make this site as awesome and legitimate for our viewers as possible. If you have any ideas on how to make this site better, want to do business with Start It Up TV, or would like to be interviewed for one of the episodes, please feel free to use our Contact Form or E-mail Matt@startitup.tv!
A big thank you to Alek Rost for the intro to Start It Up TV. Check him out at AlekRost.com
How to be Awesome at College: College Info Geek
How to be Awesome at College: College Info Geek from Matthew Racz on Vimeo.
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Thomas Frank is the founder and head geek at College Info Geek, a college blog that publishes tips on studying, technology, money, music, and other student-related topics. The site is visited by thousands of students every month, and ranks in the top 1% of the highest-trafficked websites on the Internet. College Info Geek has partnered with companies like Adobe, Sony, and Vonage to assist with student promotion, has been featured on LifeHacker, HackCollege, CollegeBlender, Student Advisor, and PracticalPremed, and publishes the work of nine contributing writers from around the U.S.
This interview with Thomas Frank is AWESOME! If you are looking to get into the blogging world but haven’t the slightest clue where to start…you should begin your journey with this video.
Preview of what is covered in this interview:
- Advice on how to be AWESOME at college
- His thoughts and strategies on growing a blog’s presence
- How he was able to get 9 people on board to write as guest posts
- His biggest challenges starting a blog and how he overcame them
About Thomas Frank
College Student, Entrepreneur, Writer, Web Developer, Early Adopter, Wannabe Designer, Extra-Picky Editor.
Thomas is currently a junior at Iowa State University studying Management Information Systems and Speech Communication. In addition to studying and blogging, he is a Resident Advisor for an honors dorm at Iowa State, helps students with career questions at ISU Business Career Services, and is a contributing writer to the popular blog Stepcase Lifehack. He is also the web developer and head of social media for famous entrepreneur and pitchman Cactus Jack, who was featured multiple times on the ABC show “Shark Tank”.
In high school, Thomas made several thousand dollars developing web sites. Now running his second entrepreneurial endeavour and working multiple jobs, he knows first-hand that the path to success for both students and businesses is built brick-by-brick. Thomas is passionate about helping students succeed, and is particularly interested in educating them about personal branding and networking. He regularly interviews successful entrepreneurs, and has connected with people like Noah Kagan of AppSumo, Leo Widrich of Buffer, Dallas Moore of Social Republick, and more. In doing this, he hopes to provide invaluable insight and inspiration to students everywhere.
Links to Connect with Thomas and College Info Geek:
Let Thomas know you saw him on Start It Up TV and show some support for College Info Geek:
Show Some Love for Start It Up TV
Quick Note
Start It Up TV is still growing into what it needs to be. We are trying our best to make this site as awesome and legitimate for our viewers as possible. If you have any ideas on how to make this site better, want to do business with Start It Up TV, or would like to be interviewed for one of the episodes, please feel free to use our Contact Form or E-mail Matt@startitup.tv!
A big thank you to Alek Rost for the intro to Start It Up TV. Check him out at AlekRost.com
Startup Weekend University of Delaware: Creating Businesses All Weekend Long
Startup Weekend University of Delaware August 9th – 11th, 2011 from Matthew Racz on Vimeo.
I had the pleasure of attending Startup Weekend at the University of Delaware from September 9th – 11th. It was my first time ever attending a Startup Weekend event and I have to say – it ROCKED! For those of you unfamiliar with Startup Weekend, their website states that:
Startup Weekend is a weekend event in cities around the world. A highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more meet and in a short 54 hour event work on building projects out
In summary, Startup Weekend connects people with business ideas and concepts with people who have the technical background (web development, app development, coding, website design, etc) and allows them to work together in teams to bring to fruition a working prototype of the idea by the end of the weekend. As it explains, Startup Weekend at the University of Delaware is a full 54 hour event where more than 20 business ideas were pitched the first night at the University of Delaware event. After the pitches ended, everyone gathered in the Lerner Hall atrium and voted for their favorite business concept.
Ultimately, 9 teams were formed around 9 amazing business ideas. For the remainder of the weekend, teams worked diligently (and into the late hours of the night) on developing real prototypes of their ideas. Here are just a few of the concepts that came out of this one Startup Weekend:
- MovieeMonkee: MovieMonkee is essentially taking the “expedia.com” and “orbit.com” business models that were applied to vacant hotel rooms and using it to innovate the movie industry. Their platform is designed to help movie theaters fill empty seats during off-peak times, increasing their revenues through concession stand purchases. It’s an awesome idea and I recommend checking out their website! Oh, and they won first prize at Startup Weekend at the University of Delaware!
- Kurbi: This is a really great story in itself. Wes Garnet was a participant in Startup Weekend and presenting his concept of creating a mobile app for people suffering from MS. His mother suffers from MS and he wanted to create a way to help document her physical progress and achievements. The app won second place in the event and has already been used by a patient with MS. Remarkable!
- Relief Now: This idea has some serious potential and wish the best of luck to the team who came up with the idea. When natural disasters strike, it can cause a lot of chaos and destruction. Many people, organizations and companies act quickly to get as many resources to that location as possible. However, once the resources arrive, it can be difficult getting the right kind of help and aid to the right people in the right location. That is where Relief Now comes in. It solves this problem by allowing people who are need of aid and assistance to go on their website or app and request specifically what they need and where. Then, individuals, groups, or organizations can “claim” that request if they can actually fulfill their need. It links individuals in need of resources with people who can provide those resources immediately. Brilliant.
The weekend, although very intense and full of hard work, went super fast and was a huge success. If you ever have the opportunity to participate in a Startup Weekend, jump on the opportunity. You will learn more than you ever thought possible, make unbelievable connections with great people, and who knows- maybe even come up with the next million dollar idea!
Thank you to everyone I met at Startup Weekend at the University of Delaware and I wish you the best of luck with moving forward with your concepts. It was one of my favorite experiences in a long time.
Matthew Racz
P.s. Check out this article highlighting 11 Reasons to Start a Business in College
Quenching The Thirst of an Entire Campus: Drexel Drinks
Thirsty? Quench Your Thirst With This Interview: Drexel Drinks from Matthew Racz on Vimeo.
This is a great interview explaining the process of purchasing a business from another college student or from alumni. It’s a very interesting process and these kinds of deals are actually more common than you may think. You’ll learn what kinds of challenges are unique to taking over a company and making it your own. Nick will be the first to admit that there is still a lot of work and developments to accomplish over the next few months, but his business partners and himself have already conquered a lot in the small time frame they took over the business. Watch the interview and leave some comments, questions or just say hi!
So today’s interview is a bit different from the previous episodes. We have with us Nick Shettsline, a sophomore at Drexel University on today’s episode. He and his two business partners, George Peart and Ricardo Cordero, are the current owners of Drexel Drinks. I say current owners because Drexel Drinks was actually founded in 2007 by Drexel alumni Aksel Gungor and Ross Stazak. When both Aksel and Ross graduated in 2009, the business essentially ceased operations. It wasn’t until Spring of 2011 that Nick, Ricardo and George purchased the business from Aksel and Ross and took on the challenge to breathe new life into the company.
About Nick Shettsline
Nick Shettsline is going into his sophomore year at Drexel University. He is a part of the co-op program and loves entrepreneurship. He has had a lot of exposure to Drexel’s entrepreneurship program since even at a young age. That is because his mother is affiliated with the Baida Center of Entrepreneurship at the university.
When Nick is not doing class work or dedicating time to improving the business, he enjoys playing ping pong, intramural Frisbee and going to the gym – a pretty active lifestyle! Nick ultimately dreams of being his own boss and hopes that his experiences at Drexel can help steer him in that direction.
Links to Connect with Nick and Drexel Drinks:
Want to get in contact with Nick or check out the Drexel Drinks website? Simply click the links below!
Show Some Love for Start It Up TV
Quick Note
Start It Up TV is still growing into what it needs to be. We are trying our best to make this site as awesome and legitimate for our viewers as possible. If you have any ideas on how to make this site better, want to do business with Start It Up TV, or would like to be interviewed for one of the episodes, please feel free to use our Contact Form or E-mail Matt@startitup.tv!
A big thank you to Alek Rost for the intro to Start It Up TV. Check him out at AlekRost.com
How College Entrepreneurs can Benefit from Corporate College Internships
As a college entrepreneur you wouldn’t bother with a corporate internship, would you?
Well, I thought the same when I was in school at first and boy am I glad I changed my point of view.
Here’s the deal, although you may be set on starting your own business and may even dedicate most of your free time as it is to your business, participating in a summer internship can be EXTREMELY valuable for you as a college entrepreneur.
I’m not talking about a small to medium sized business. I’m referring to the “Big 4” accounting firms; I’m talking about the big boys – the companies that are global…the ones whose CEO’s make millions of dollars a year.
For me, I interned at J.P. Morgan Chase the summer before my senior year at the University of Delaware as a Business Operations Analyst.
Here is a list of things I learned from my experience in the corporate world. Hopefully you have the opportunity to have similar experiences outside of your comfort zone and learn things about yourself you didn’t know before.
First, I learned quickly that I really did NOT want to work in the corporate world after graduating. Before the internship, I always thought I wanted to pursue entrepreneurship. However, actually experiencing what it was like working for a big financial services firm helped solidify what I wanted to do post graduation…and that was nothing related to finance or big business.
However, what if you fall in love with your internship? You suddenly realize that there are actually a lot of benefits to working at a big company. This is equally valuable. To each their own – and until you experience both sides of the coin you cannot make a truly informed, unbiased decision.
One of the most important things the internship helped me with was honing in on my networking skills. When you are working for a big company, there are tons of people everywhere for you to meet and plenty of brains to pick. It never hurts to add to your network business professionals in high places that can help you in the future. Don’t be intimidated; just focus on networking, being friendly, and producing great results. Who knows, maybe you’ll even find people interested in funding/promoting/joining your business! As an entrepreneur, learning how to network with people is a must. Internships are a great way to gain experience on the “DOs and DON’Ts” of networking
A company like J.P. Morgan has a substantially large amount of resources, and they make sure they invest a lot of them into their interns. Why? Because they want you to join them full-time post graduation. They train you, mentor you, and help you grow as much as possible because they want you as a potential full-time candidate. Free training? Yes please! Never pass up the opportunity to gain some serious training for free.
Joining a big company as an intern also helps you stay on your feet. You are constantly learning new things, adapting, and rising to new challenges. Does it sound similar to a startup? This is just another experience where you are truly put to the test. Accept the challenge.
I also learned how to be accountable for my mistakes. Yes, I made tons of mistakes at my internship. Small mistakes are cool and okay – as long as you learn from them. When you are an entrepreneur and you make a mistake, you may not have the safety net a big company can provide.
Although I am completely sold on the idea of entrepreneurship and can’t imagine myself working “for the guy,” many people are happy and fulfilled going the corporate route. Be open-minded and check it out. Even if you are like me and realize big business is not for you, you will learn things from the experience that will undoubtedly be useful to you in your own entrepreneurial endeavors.
What do you think about corporate internships? What were your experiences with them? Do you have any advice for a college student looking for an awesome internship? Throw some of your comments, thoughts, and suggestions below! Also, sign up below for email updates from SIU TV!
Cheers,
Matthew Racz
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