Rubin Family Innovation Mentor Sam Holland ’22 was featured recently in an article by Future Founders on his plan to help make education more accessible. “Many entrepreneurs begin their journey in pursuit of profit,” according to the article. “But for some, starting a business is about so much more than money. For these socially-conscious entrepreneurs, it’s about leaving the world a better place than they found it.” The article showcased three founders participating in the LaunchPad Summer Startup Fellowship, including Hollander, and chatted with them on their vision of a better world with education that’s more accessible to all.
The article profiled the venture that Hollander is building, FSCL, which stands for stands for Financial Services for College Lending. “Our mission is to provide simple, affordable, and flexible solutions for financing college through alternative finance vehicles, namely income sharing agreements,” says Hollander in the article.
Future Founders asked about the catalyst behind launching FSCL and Hollander noted, “I came across an article one day on income share agreements, and how they are the next ‘up and coming’ thing in financing higher education. I immediately fell in love with the concept and decided that I wanted to take one out for myself. But after some initial research, I quickly learned that current income share agreements are available to less than 1% of the student population here in the U.S.”
Hollander went on to explain why he believes there needs to be a new financing vehicle for higher education. “Many of my peers can leave college with $250k in debt yet might only be expected to make $30k/year with their first job. This is a huge mismatch between the price people pay for education and the value they take. We’re trying to better align the price and value, because not everyone can afford to take on such massive debt. We see today that students, many of whom don’t have established credit, have a very hard time securing student loans, which can make it hard or impossible to afford the full cost of attendance. We’re building a platform that takes a holistic-review approach to lending decisions, allowing for students to get funding based on factors other than just credit history. There needs to be a second option for students, and it’s one we’re trying to create.”
Future Founders wrapped up the interview by asking how the Blackstone LaunchPad and Techstars helped power his growth as an entrepreneur. “I wouldn’t be close to where I am without the LaunchPad,” said Hollander. “Our campus director at Syracuse University Linda Hartsock has provided us with an incredible platform to learn from other people’s successes and failures. Launchpad had created a community on our campus – one that is run by like-minded individuals, and that has allowed me to learn and grow tremendously.”
Future Founders programs have served over 35,000 youth since 2005 and its cohorts of national millennial founders have generated $32.8M in revenue, secured $34.9M in capital and created 543 jobs in the last four years alone. Learn more about Future Founders here.