Daily Orange story by Haley Kim, Digital Copy Chief and photo by Katie Reahl

Kevin Rieck used to tell his mother he was going to go to college, start a company and then drop out. His father, who’s owned multiple businesses himself, was supportive. His mother, who’s worked a corporate job for decades, was not.

Rieck kept part of his word. While the Syracuse University junior hasn’t dropped out, he is now only a part-time student.

He launched Ravle, a film and travel company, a year ago. Next week, Rieck and Tay Lotte, a fellow SU student and co-founder of Ravle, will travel to the Student Startup Madness tournament at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, as one of eight finalists.

The idea for Ravle came from Rieck’s personal passions: traveling and making films.

“My plan after college was just going to shoot films, travel films, and sell my itineraries,” Rieck, who’s from outside the Chicago area, said. “Like, I just want to spend a good year of my life not in the real world.”

Through research, Rieck found that most of the people watching travel videos are planning their own trips to the same destinations. They spend hours poring through websites and videos to prepare. Ravle streamlines this process, and markets itineraries created by “adventurous filmmakers.”

There are currently 10 trips on the website, including “Nara, Japan: The Ancient City” and “Peru: A Walk Back in Time.”

Rieck is a bit “obsessed” with his venture, spending probably 70 hours a week on it, he said. He tested one of the Iceland trips during winter break. He rented a sleeping bag and a car, and then spent three days by himself driving and camping through the Icelandic terrain.

But his self-starting nature isn’t anything new. Growing up, Rieck wanted to be an inventor, his family said.

“He’d always be building weird little things that were like a little problem that most people would just deal with,” said David Rieck, his older brother. “He would try and build something to solve these little problems.”

He had an “idea book” where he would record his thoughts, said Richard Rieck, his father, sometimes even in the middle of the night. One idea was to increase visibility for scuba divers — Rieck thought up contacts that could change the clarity of the water, Richard said, eliminating the need for a mask.

He learned to work hard at a young age. In high school, when Rieck wanted to switch from practicing gymnastics to playing basketball, he got up at 5:30 a.m. to dribble around his neighborhood, continuing his skill work as soon as he came home from school, he said.

Anna Henderson | Daily Orange Digital Design Editor

“That was probably my first experience of learning how to work ridiculously hard to achieve something,” Rieck said. “I think that’s definitely a time of my life that instilled the type of discipline I have now.”

His day still begins early — most days he gets up at 6 a.m. to work out, said his friend and gym partner Alec Gillinder, a third-year industrial design student at SU. Before Ravle, Rieck spent a year working as a personal trainer.

When he’s walking, his headphones are usually on and he’s listening to an audiobook, but at double the speed because the readers are too slow. Books like “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and “MONEY Master the Game” are some of his recent favorites.

Rieck finds his strengths through connecting with others. He can talk to nearly anyone, his older sister, Kelsey Rieck said. She added that one summer, Rieck drew a business contract with one of their father’s friends who had a warehouse of wood to sell. Rieck negotiated the listings and sold all the wood, creating an opportunity and friendship out of the experience.

Rieck lives in the moment, Lotte said. When the two were traveling in Germany, they missed their connecting train because Rieck was focused on taking photo footage behind the train station. The two extra hours, though, ended up giving them a chance to explore the small German town.

Lotte said Rieck’s drive and commitment to the company are some of his best characteristics. Lotte said her business partner shows up every day ready to put in work and still is able to help others.

“I think what’s really important is his ability to be a guiding compass because he does kind of inspire action just by leading by example,” Lotte added.

Rieck said he’s most proud of the team that he’s built with Ravle — of having people counting on him and devoting dozens of hours of work to the company. But this pressure is also driving him to be conscious of the team community he’s creating, Rieck said.

While his plans for Ravle include trying to get into a business accelerator this summer, Rieck said that in five years he hopes to be able to work “financially free” on projects he’s passionate about, like global climate change.

Rieck said he has many mentors, and many of them are digital and who he’s never met. But the philosophy of strongman Elliott Hulse stuck out for him. Hulse’s mindset has inspired him to forge his own path, one project at a time.

“Why don’t you want your own experience? Because everyone is like, following these paths that already exist,” Rieck said, “and it’s like, if you did your own experience, it might be messy, it might be dirty, you might fail a bunch, but it’s yours.”

After graduating from the Bandier Program for Music Business and the Entertainment Industries at Syracuse University in 2014, Kelly Benini was set on going straight into the corporate leagues of the music industry. Through an internship, Kelly landed her first job out of college at Creative Artists Agency (CAA). By working hard and forming relationships early on, Kelly fulfilled her goal of working under Rob Light, head of music at CAA, right off the bat.

Over time she was able to gain a strong macro perspective through projects and careful observation. She learned the intricacies of dealing with people, which Kelly credits as being the major part of a music industry professional’s success rate. To her, interpersonal skills are far more important than technical skills that anyone can learn.

By 2017, Kelly felt that it was time to move on from her current role at CAA. She wanted to show that she was ambitious and in tune with her personal need to move forward and grow within her career. She was aware of a need for change.

With a lifelong passion for fitness and wellness, Kelly one day heard a song in the background of a video of one of her favorite fitness vloggers. She knew YouTube does not allow more than sixty seconds of a song without being flagged, which led her to the conclusion that this song that stuck out to her so much because it must have been by an unknown artist with no copyright protection. That moment led to Kelly’s discovery of “Eject” by young Canadian hip-hop artist CHRIS YONGE. From that point, Kelly immersed herself in this mystery musician by listening to old mixtapes. She was intrigued by the amazing production and clean image of this artist she had not heard of, and assumed he must have some kind of label support. She reached out to Chris directly through Facebook, where she proposed a phone call to learn more about his story and his art.

After going back and forth for a month, Kelly gradually realized she could use her knowledge to assist with projects Chris’s current manager wasn’t proactively leading. She began proving value and organically became a part of Chris’s team. She helped with the legal aspects of sampling and copyright, and moved his music onto streaming services. She did consulting for him while still at CAA by committing herself to an hour long phone call with Chris every day. Eventually she became his full time manager.

Soon enough, Kelly was able to switch to working under a younger agent within CAA. She put Chris on the backburner, but that changed when 300 Entertainment reached out to Kelly regarding Chris’s music. In that moment, she opened her eyes to the fact that the industry was watching. She was a part of something with more potential than she had realized.

What would happen if she put in 24 hours a day instead of one? She knew she could not move forward without taking risks, and she knew she had started feeling too comfortable at CAA. After weighing the risks and rewards, Kelly created Pivot Artist Management just a month later. The name came from television miniseries The Defiant Ones. Music executive Jimmy Iovine constantly pivoted from one thing to the next, always taking risks. Kelly saw herself in the way Iovine handled things in the show and in his career.

Looking back, Kelly wishes she knew how hard it is to sign an independent artist and how long that process takes. She needed to learn how to prove her worth and value as a manager, but she did.  Now the Pivot team is Kelly and Chris, and Chris uses services via Nice & Juicy. to handle the visually creative aspects of his brand.

Chris handles all of his creative content development, while Kelly serves as his fulltime manager, handling the industry and getting his music in front of the right people. She has mastered having the right contacts and companies in the loop, introducing them to Chris’s most recent projects, and staying in touch with those people. She recognizes that by relationship building, and directly engaging people in an artist’s story, they will invest themselves and become more invested in helping create success.

Pivot Artist Management’s most rewarding project thus far has been finishing Chris’s album “NEGATIVES” this past summer, and the process of releasing each track as a single every two to three weeks leading up to its completion. Seeing the music resonate with people and watching social media numbers grow organically as a result is success in itself.

When asked to think of a challenge faced while starting up her business, Kelly reflected on not realizing all the small fires she would have to put out in the grand scheme of her business. While transitioning between distribution services, she had to spend valuable time on tasks like clearing up duplicate tracks on Soundcloud. While this may seem tedious, and to some even trivial, Kelly understood the importance of a clean, consistent professional image for her client.

She also explored the challenge of selling a person rather than a product. How do you approach constructive criticism with the artist? What is the story they are trying to tell through their art? How is she as a manager going to take him there? How do they reflect this within their relationship dynamic? How much creative input is appropriate for a manager to have?

To aspiring entrepreneurs, Kelly says failure is inevitable if you do not find what you are most passionate about. There are so many intricacies one can simply not prepare for, and entrepreneurs have to be willing to stick with it through the bad times.

The Pivot Artist Management founder also encourages reading as much as you can and embodying the skills of entrepreneurs you aspire to be like. To her, success is doing what you love, making money off of it, and being able to pay it forward to those who dream to achieve similar goals.

Looking forward five years, Kelly is hoping to expand Chris’s career and possibly sign other artists to Pivot. She is open to the idea of working for somebody else again in the future, because she believes the entrepreneurial mindset can absolutely be applied while working within another company. Being proactive and helping an artist grow is entrepreneurial regardless. Either way, she hopes to expand her network and thinks of whatever is to come as a stepping stone toward the greater picture. Maybe that means ultimately merging with another management company, or maybe encompassing smaller companies under a larger umbrella that is Pivot.

For now, it doesn’t matter, because entrepreneurs roll with the punches.

For further business insights and ideas visit Kelly Benini’s blog.

Story by Elise Marlin, ’20, Artist Manager / FLOTUS, Bandier Program for Music Business and the Entertainment Industries

If you ask Amanda Chou where she is from, you’ll get a complicated answer. Her roots range from Beijing, to Seattle, Taipei, and most recently, Syracuse. With her life so widespread, Amanda is quite passionate about communications. Amanda, plans to graduate in December of 2018 while double majoring in Public Relations in S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and Political Science in The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Amanda calls herself an aspiring communications professional who wants to work in the nonprofit world. Her specific interest is in advocacy campaigns, and she wants to shine a light on current events and important issues. Particularly, she thinks non-profit communication needs a “fresh new approach” – one that she can bring that approach because community engagement is an important issue to her. “With the current political climate it’s really important to get involved. As students, it’s critical that we use our skill sets to make a difference in our community.”

Amanda began her civic journey at SU in 2016 as a content creator for Thrive Projects, a Blackstone LaunchPad grown nonprofit organization. At the time, she was also one of the first Blackstone Global Media Fellows at the LaunchPad in Bird Library. Thrive Projects’ mission of community sustainability was specifically important to Amanda as the organization worked abroad. Amanda was so good at her job that she soon took on the role of Chief Marketing Officer of Thrive Projects. She was an important strategist for the team, and helped craft messaging that helped the team win numerous campus business plan competitions, as well as first prize in the New York State Business Plan Competition in the social entrepreneurship category.  She was part of the team that won the campus Hult Prize competition, and went on to the global regionals in Boston.  She was also invited to participate in the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) in Boston.

With the team, she traveled to Nepal and participated in the on-the-ground sustainability and empowerment educational workshops created by Thrive Projects, and its subsidiary, Thrive Nepal. She produced videos, blogs and news articles that chronicled the challenges and celebrated the achievements of the many incredible people she met in Nepal who were touched by Thrive.

Amanda keenly understand the importance of the Thrive mission, which is why in Spring 2017 she, along with several other students, co-founded Thrive at SU. Thrive at SU is a student organization that works to bridge the gap between the Syracuse University campus with the greater Syracuse community by working alongside local nonprofits. She has quickly grown the official SU student organization, to a large collaborative of civic entrepreneurs and volunteers who meet each Friday afternoon in the LaunchPad, to discuss ways to engage with the community.  Last year they held the inaugural #ThriveTogether cultural fair, which raised $1,500 for a local nonprofit, InterFaith Works of Central New York.

This year they are again engaging with InterFaith Works and its Center for New Americans. Which provides resettlement and post-resettlement services, helping refugee families successfully establish their lives in the states. The program typically resettles 500-600 new refugees in Central New York each year.

Amanda’s diverse background makes her especially sympathetic to New Americans. She came back to the United States for school after living abroad for 16 years. “New environments are scary. I can’t imagine what it must be like to pick up your life and have to start completely over.” Through her experiences living abroad and her travels, she’s learned that vulnerable communities need to share their stories– they need a voice.

The Thrive Together Fair, put together by Amanda and the Thrive at SU team, aims to raise the volume of that voice. The fair will not only showcase a variety of student organizations but will also include an array of cultural performances and food.  All of the proceeds will go directly to InterFaith Works.

The fair is March 3, from 11am-2pm in Goldstein Auditorium, and tickets are available at Schine Box Office or Online. Community members and Syracuse University students, faculty, staff and alumni are welcome.

Amanda embraces the term “community builder.” In the fall, she will be leaving her position as president of Thrive at SU as she heads off to her final semester in New York City. But Amanda plans to continue her work with communities in need.  Wherever her path leads, Amanda will continue to be a voice for those in need.

Story and photo by Blackstone Global Media Fellow Audrey Miller

Daniel Simoni ‘19 knows how to produce.  He is one of the founding team members of 410 Pictures, a start-up venture focusing on niche micro-budget film production targeted for festivals, distribution houses, and the exploding video on demand platform. Daniel’s goal is to build an independent film community that leverages the talents of emerging film makers, and to create an ecosystem to help it grow.

As a film major in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, he’s no stranger to the inner workings of the film industry on all levels, mastering the art of pre-production, producing, post-production,  funding, marketing and distribution channels.  And he already has an impressive production portfolio to his credit.

However, Daniel was not always set on pursuing a career in film. The Miami native had considered the field of aerospace engineering or the medical field, both equally technical and logical oriented areas of study. When asked what made him change his mind, he explained that he took a film history class as a freshman, and found that he had enjoyed the act of expression and creative freedom associated with the medium. Since then, he never thought about doing anything else. He soon realized that in order to successfully enter the ever-competitive film industry, he would need the entrepreneurial spirit to guide him. Daniel has always found the entrepreneurial aspect of film very interesting, so he was ready and motivated to tackle the challenges to come.

When asked, “What made you decide to start 410 Pictures,” Daniel cited his drive to change the local film industry. “There is a lack of traditional narrative film production houses in CNY, and we want to change that. We want to become a kind of pioneer in the narrative and festival film industry in the Syracuse area.”

Last summer, Daniel landed a video production internship with a corporate film production company in Miami. There, he learned a variety of post-production, on-set, and film marketing skills. This became his first source of entrepreneurial inspiration. It led him, along with co-founder Peter Hartsock ’19, to produce their first film for 410 Pictures, “The House on Pumpkin Drive.”  Together they raised nearly $12,000 to create the film, which is headed to festivals later this year.  It involved a production crew of nearly 20 people, and featured Hollywood actor, Nicholas Tucci, as well as Chicago and NYC stage actors and yes, a goat, which they cast in a pivotal role.

As a team, they have produced more than 15 short films, many of which have won awards. A recent film, “Call of the Void,” won best student film at a Rochester Top 100 festival in fall 2017. They have cast professional talent in their films, including actors who have appeared in major Hollywood productions, network television commercials, and more.  Working with those professionals, they have quickly earned a reputation as a professional, organized and creative production team.

Companies like Netflix are looking to acquire content by professional small independent production houses, and 410 Pictures is working to become a creator to serve that demand.  With the ability to provide end-to-end services from ideation, to story development, scripting, and more, 410 Pictures covers all aspects of pre-production, production, and post-production.  410 Pictures also has the expertise to crowdfund and build financial models around productions, which is a unique feature.

In addition to producing and distributing its own in-house productions, the company plans to focus on providing organizational, technical, and marketing expertise to young, emerging filmmakers, from development to film festival distribution. In addition to producing and acquiring other filmmakers’ works, 410 Pictures will produce and distribute its own in-house productions.

Daniel sees 410 Pictures as a way to put the talents of Syracuse University filmmakers – who are part of a top tier film school – to work in a professional capacity to not only build resumes, but to learn the industry through real world projects that add value to the local and regional economy. 410 Picture’s approach is to build an ecosystem that will help grow the regional film industry, starting in Syracuse.

Daniel has a special knack for quickly assembling teams that include art directors, gaffers, grips, cinematographers, casting directors, assistant directors, and all the necessary components to assemble a full-fledged film crew.  And, he has gained a reputation as the “go-to” casting director for Syracuse University student film productions.  410 Pictures provides sophisticated post-production services, with a team skilled at software programs such as Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, Autodesk Maya, ZBrush, DaVinci Resolve, Logic Pro X and more.

After producing, working on, or casting more than 30 films shot in the region, he has built an impressive portfolio of work.

Reflecting on his past three years at Syracuse University, Daniel says he’s changed not only as a person, but as a creative too. He is now unafraid to try new things and take artistic risks when it comes to his work. After graduation, Daniel hopes to build 410 Pictures’ success by growing it into the largest independent film production and distribution house in Central New York. He explained how growth in the local film industry would greatly benefit the area’s economy and give upcoming film students at SU more opportunities to have real on-set experiences. Additionally, Daniel would also like to further his education by eventually obtaining a graduate degree in film.

Wherever life takes him though, he is excited for his future and will continue to work hard to pursue his passions.

Story by Blackstone LaunchPad Global Media Fellow, and 410 Pictures team member and CMO, Justina Hnatowicz ’19, Newhouse School major, and VPA minor in animation 

Photo by Peter Hartsock ’19, VPA double major in film and animation, 410 Pictures co-founder and CTO

Julia Haber ’18 embodies entrepreneurship. She is not only a learner and a connector, she is a doer. And she’s making waves. In fact, a very big WAYV.

This year, Haber created WAYV, a company that provides immersive experiences that bring the essence of brands directly to students in their own backyards. Haber knows that nothing is more important than experiential marketing. “Understanding the consumer is your very first step,” she says. “If you can understand how to build brand affinity with a consumer, your brand will start to mean something.”

As a senior studying advertising with an emphasis in new business and branding at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and minoring psychology at the College of Arts and Science, Julia has made a study of how consumers relate to brands. It inspired her to completely re-imagine what an immersive brand experience could be. “The idea started because Millennials and Gen Z want to share momentous elements in their everyday college life on social media,” says Haber, who interned at Snapchat in Los Angeles last summer. “They want to have a fun time with their friends and post cool posts, but at the end of the day, know that the brands they are investing in also cares about what they are saying.”

That insight helped her create WAYV – a venture that tricks out portable storage spaces as immersive popup retail spaces to give brand partners in retail, tech and content creation a space to engage with college students. She pulled together a diverse student team, with skill sets in finance, retail, marketing and technology, based at Harvard University, Tufts University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

WAYV will launch with an exciting beta test with Rent the Runway this April at Syracuse University. From there, Haber plans on taking WAYV to east coast college campuses after she graduates in May 2018.  WAYV plans to build audiences of influencers on campuses by engaging them in these immersive popup experiences, as they bring them to different universities. Her scale-up plan includes developing WAYV at a premier accelerator program in a major metropolitan area this summer.

Haber firmly believes that there is nothing more meaningful than in-person communication. “Millennials and Gen Z really love the popup shop culture because they crave sharing and participation with brands.”

As one of the pioneers of student entrepreneurship on the Syracuse University campus, Haber is no stranger to the popup shop culture. She organized the very first student popup shop in 2015 co-sponsored by AT&T. Serving as a retail space for students and retailers to open temporary stores in Marshall Square Mall, the project was a huge hit. Haber also started VISION, a creative club funded by Adobe that allows students to explore innovative ideas. The club catalyzed the Bump the Mumps event last fall and engaged with more than 20,000 people in just two hours. At the height of the mumps outbreak on the SU campus, VISION provided care packages including hand sanitizer and hot chocolate. Bump the Mumps was an incredible VIRAL event that educated the student body on good hygiene practices to prevent mumps from spreading further.

To say that Haber is deeply rooted in the entrepreneurial space at SU is an understatement. In 2015, when she was just getting to know the resources SU had to offer as she was putting together the popup shop in Marshall Square Mall, she realized there had to be better way to unite the different entrepreneurship programs into one place. Working with campus entrepreneurship leaders in the following months, she became the student brand ambassador that helped Syracuse secure designation as a Blackstone LaunchPad by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation.  She traveled to NYC for the funding announcement in fall 2015, and was there to help cut the ribbon in April 2016, when the Blackstone LaunchPad at Syracuse University opened its doors.

“People have ideas, and they need a centralized space with resources to turn their ideas into action,” Haber says. “This is that place.”

Photo and story by Amanda Chou ‘18, Blackstone LaunchPad Global Media Fellow.

Entrepreneurship is more than the steps involved in setting up a business.  It is a different take on life. Amos Cohen ’20, a Whitman School of Management, student, is an excellent example of an entrepreneur who is constantly looking for the next idea, the next problem to solve. He considers entrepreneurship a way to look at life, constantly challenging the status quo, and pushing for more innovative ways to solve problems and seek solutions, often fusing his finance and IT/software skills.

A native of Tel Aviv, Amos was inspired at a young age by his Israeli parents to follow an entrepreneurial path, starting a venture of his own after “experiencing the pain” of not being able to make video while dancing at the Tomorrowland Festival. Not willing to pay $400 for a GoPro, he decided to design a cap with a smartphone mount that would work just as well as a GoPro. This entrepreneurial approach perfectly demonstrates how he approaches problems:  Be ingenious and come up with solutions.

As an entrepreneur, Amos finds his next venture idea by looking at his own problems. “Your own opinion matters and you assume more confidently that you can solve the problem more efficiently.” If one word defined Amos, it would be efficient. Every venture he launches relies on a highly detailed and efficient processes that follows a highly incremental approach to achieve his global vision.

Constantly learning from his mistakes, he came to America looking for another perspective on education, more dynamic and multidisciplinary. Not initially planning to launch a venture, Amos quickly changed his mind and decided to follow his passion for IT and programming. After partnering with another Blackstone LaunchPad Global Fellow, serial entrepreneur Quentin Rosso ‘18, he decided to pursue his passion for problem-solving by helping other student entrepreneurs tackling their own venture issues. Their venture, QAD, aims to provide fast and affordable prototyping for entrepreneurs looking for digital development solutions ranging from simple landing pages to more complex web-based technological products.

“For me, being  entrepreneurial-minded is innate,” says Amos. “This ongoing process of perceiving each “error” or “pain” that might arise through life experiences and transforming it into a business opportunity – that’s not innate. It’s something you acquire through time, something that takes practice.”

For the last 10 years, Amos got that perspective and learned by watching his parents following the entrepreneurial path. “When I see entrepreneurship, I see magic,” he says. Amos remembers the time he was doing a photoshoot for his previous company, and feeling a sense of achievement. Creating something from nothing is what he feels passionate about. He is very analytical, detail oriented and has an incredible ability to get things done. Amos is a doer who never takes anything for granted. What is even more fascinating about him is his ability to focus on the essential tasks and breaking down a giant vision into straightforward and actionable steps. As an entrepreneur who enoys helping his peers, he often gives this advice: “Try to make your idea unworthy. Reject it as soon as possible. If you can’t reject it, then you have a product.” He is also an adept at testing and iterating businesses idea in front of customers as part of the all-important discovery process to create a new product or service.

If you want to start your venture and get things done, meet Amos in the LaunchPad. He will turn your world upside-down. Email him at: amcohen@syr.edu

Story by Quentin Rosso, Blackstone LaunchPad Global Fellow ‘18

Photo by Amanda Chou, Blackstone LaunchPad Global Fellow ‘18

Born and raised just outside Toledo in the small town of Maumee, Ohio, Audrey Miller ’20 knew that being engaged in community development was always going to be her top priority. After declaring her double major in political science and international relations in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Miller has been very active in the community building and civic engagement space on and off campus at Syracuse University.

When asked about how she decided to start dabbling into social entrepreneurship, Miller explained, “I feel like I’ve always been interested in nonprofit or governmental work. Ever since I got involved with awesome organizations working both locally and internationally, I realized that the word ‘community’ is much, much bigger than I am. And that’s why it’s our responsibility to not only educate but also empower the communities we live in.”

Back in 2014, Miller got involved with United for Uganda, a nonprofit organization that sponsors education programs for Ugandan children, especially those who are orphans, who comes from big families, and those who have HIV/AIDs. It is the vulnerable communities like the ones United for Uganda that got Miller thinking there’ has to be more she could do right at home in Maumee. She then started a chapter for the nonprofit at her own high school, and organized fundraisers and information sessions to raise awareness in her community.

When she arrived in Syracuse, she quickly joined Thrive Projects; a nonprofit organization that was grew in the Blackstone LaunchPad. Seeing Thrive’s mission of supporting community development projects around the world through customized vocational training, Miller knew she had come to the right place. A year later, she co-founded Thrive at SU, a registered student organization that works to bridge the gap between the SU student body and the local Syracuse community by collaborating with nonprofits in the area. Wherever she goes, Miller is constantly looking for ways to give back to the environment and the people in it.

Miller and the Thrive at SU team is hard at work putting together the final touches of the Thrive Together Fair, an interactive cultural event that features performances and speakers from across campus and the local community in a day that celebrates the diversity of Syracuse. The event will take place on Saturday, March 3, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and community members and Syracuse University students, faculty, staff and alumni are welcome.

In the fall of 2018, Miller will step into the role of President of Thrive at SU, and she hopes to continue staying involved with the Syracuse community, especially with marginalized groups. She believes that only by starting a conversation, and celebrating our differences, can we cross the barrier of misunderstanding and miscommunication together, and #ThriveTogether.

Photo and story by Amanda Chou ‘18, Blackstone LaunchPad Global Media Fellow.

Without a doubt, Kate Beckman is one of the most influential women entrepreneurs at Syracuse University.

While she is finishing up the New Media Management graduate program at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Beckman looked back on her undergraduate experience studying at Newhouse’s magazine journalism program, being a #FemaleFounder, and evolving as a recognized expert on Gen Z and a national voice in the digital media world.

“Seeing the growth of entrepreneurial resources at Syracuse University is really inspiring,” Beckman says.  “I am so glad that students with great ideas have access to a community of supportive students and mentors.”

Originally, from Wisconsin, Beckman has always been fascinated by the out-of-state college experience. When she arrived on campus, she noticed there were no student publications that specifically created content for incoming freshmen. Beckman had questions about how to live out the best Syracuse experience. She also wanted to know how other freshmen were doing. Beckman wasted no time, and launched a freshman publication that helped SU newbies navigate their new life away from home.

By sophomore year, Beckman recognized that the freshman experience was not necessarily unique to the Syracuse campus. She decided to expand her publication nationally, naming it Fresh U. Working closely with the Newhouse Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship, Beckman was able to create a business model to scale to other college campuses around the country. Fresh U quickly became a resource for students applying to college as well as a resource for freshmen when they first step onto campus.

By the time she graduated, she had built a media network with contributors and readers from more than 100 campuses.  Today, Fresh U is a national digital hub with more than 400 student writers, and Fresh U regularly collaborates with Seventeen and Teen Vogue. Beckman was able to grow a small on-campus student publication into a trusted national media venture in just a few years.  As part of her business model, she did extensive research on Generation Z, the generation born after the late 1990s, which comprise most college campuses.  Her extensive insights rapidly positioned her as an expert on Gen Z – a cohort that brands want to reach because of its economic potential.  This group makes up made up 25% of the U.S. population, making them a larger cohort than the Baby Boomers or Millennials. They are digital natives, social media savvy and an entrepreneurial cohort – with the ability and desire to sell to the world from their own home, co-working space or virtual storefront.

Because of her incredible work ethic, networking skills, and extensive research and social media background, Beckman has been able to drive Fresh U’s growth organically.  Moreover, it is being noticed.  She is frequently asked to speak about Gen Z.  Beckman placed in the top “entrepreneurial eight” of Student Startup Madness at SXSW after winning Syracuse University’s campus competition in 2016. She won the Syracuse University ACC InVenture Prize competition in spring 2017, and was a top five finalist of the ACC InVenture Prize competition in Atlanta – pitching on stage, Shark-Tank style, in a live broadcast television production at Georgia Tech. This spring she will be competing in the campus iPrize Competition.

When Beckman was a freshman at Syracuse, entrepreneurship was siloed. Over her time here, she saw it knit together as a supportive ecosystem.  When Beckman started working with the Blackstone LaunchPad at SU, she realized the value of a collaborative innovation hub that connects with the essential subject matter experts that are so vital to growing an idea into a venture.  She loved the sense of community she found in a place that brought together so many disciplines and skill sets.  She describes the LaunchPad as a student centered entrepreneurial space that allowed her to quickly grow her network, meet, and brainstorm her ideas with fellow peers more confidently.

As her graduation approaches in May 2018, Beckman is exploring strategic options.  She is weighing how Fresh U evolves, how to expand partnerships with existing or new companies, and keeping an eye out for opportunities and incredible things that are always emerging in the rapidly changing digital media world.  She knows how to find opportunity.  More important, she knows how to create it. She is already a respected digital media mogul, and nothing is stopping her.  Follow her journey, because she’s just get started and her star is rising.

Photo and story by Amanda Chou ‘18, Blackstone LaunchPad Global Media Fellow.

David Fox had a milestone this week.  He published the 50^th issue of Startup Thinking, that awesome newsletter you receive each Tuesday about all things innovative at SU. If you’ve ever wondered about the behind the scenes work that goes into each issue, look no further than David and his LaunchPad team of student writers and photographers.  He’s also the publisher of this weekly Thursday Startup Spotlight newsletter profiling entrepreneurs, and creates many of the videos for our student ventures.  So we thought this is the perfect week to shine the spotlight on David.

Entrepreneurs are motivated and creative individuals, and David Fox is definitely one of those individuals. He is behind many of the innovative projects coming out of the LaunchPad, and has been actively engaged with the #WeAreEntrepreneurs campaign here at Syracuse.

Growing up in Jackson, New Jersey or as it’s better known, Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey, David was a leader.  He was very engaged in service activities as an officer of Key Club, a volunteer club for high school students where he was vice president as a sophomore and served as president his junior and senior years.  He gained 300 hours of community service and learned valuable leadership skills that made him a better entrepreneur.

He began that journey at SU in The Whitman School of Management and as a sophomore realized that he wanted to be immersed in a technical field and moved to the School of Information Studies to study Information Management and Technology, where he currently continues his studies as a junior.

David was first introduced to the Blackstone LaunchPad by his sophomore year iSchool roommate who was interning in the LaunchPad. David was encouraged to apply for an intern position as well. Following a productive semester interning in the LaunchPad, he was offered a job as a Global Media Fellow, an event he considers to be the turning point of his college career.

David, a self-proclaimed jack of all trades, can typically be found working on constructing and publishing the weekly newsletter– Startup Thinking, filming a visually stunning promo video, tweeting about entrepreneurship, or wearing a pair of funky socks. If you were to ask him about his favorite part about working inside the giant glass box David would be quick to reply with, “The people– whether it’s the people who already work here or the entrepreneurs who walk in. There is nothing more motivating than watching other people succeed.”

After working in the LaunchPad for nearly a year David has finally decided to start his own company, Necessity Apparel. He has teamed up with another Blackstone LaunchPad Global Media Fellow, Victoria Lawson, to create a clothing line with what he says is a “beach aesthetic.” His plan includes donating 10% of the profits to the organization, Charity Water a company he had worked closely with in high school that provides clean drinking water to developing countries.

David, who has always wanted to start his own business, got the idea for an apparel company after extensive research. He had originally planned to start a nonprofit, but after learning more about that regulatory framework of that structure, quickly moved to the next best thing– a company that accomplishes social good.  He’s approaching his venture from a triple bottom line perspective.

He’s working on the steps to help bring Necessity Apparel to an official debut later this year. David is just about ready to finalize a manufacturer, so, keep your eyes peeled.

David says an entrepreneur is someone who “knows a lot about a lot of things,” – an accomplished generalist with an inquisitive mind who is always exploring ideas.  That’s something he really embodies, but the LaunchPad thinks he has some superpowers.  You see them every Tuesday when you get your weekly issue of Startup Thinking, and you’ll see them soon when Neccesity Apparel launches

Story by Blackstone Global Media Fellow Audrey Miller ‘20 and photo by Amanda Chou, Blackstone Global Media Fellow ‘18