The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is a global network that connects business owners to enhance their lives and businesses. On Feb. 17, the New Jersey chapter of EO hosted the regional Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) competition in Livingston, NJ. “The GSEA competition is an invaluable experience for students looking to build their businesses,” said Harris Wolin, EO New Jersey president. “There are so many passionate student entrepreneurs in New Jersey, and it’s rewarding for us as an EO chapter to have the opportunity to help them take their businesses to the next level.” Beginning its history in 1998 at the John Cook School of Business, the GSEA has been recognizing extraordinary undergraduate entrepreneurs. In 2006, the GSEA became a part of the EO organization. Other than inspiring entrepreneurial endeavors in students, the program also increases the visibility of student business owners with high ethical standards and impressive, well-rounded businesses.
This year, four students from different colleges competed in the competition. Kayla Jackson represented Rutgers University with PeduL, Inc., Shaaliyah Lyons represented Seton Hall with Together We Conquer Inc., Ephraim Russo represented Stevens Institute of Technology with VentureMe, and Tram-Anh Le represented the University of Dallas with IcingAcid.
Stevens’ very own Ephraim Russo was named as the second place winner of the competition for his app VentureMe. Kayla Jackson won first place and will go on to compete in the national GSEA finals on March 6 in Kansas City, Missouri.
VentureMe is a startup Russo founded last summer that is meant for simply going out. It works as a personal planner that can be used for any occasion. The app uses machine learning to curate and suggest events in users’ cities. Russo says that the idea for the app came to him one day when he realized how exhausting making plans to go out is. “It all started right after the previous Stevens startup, iUbble Inc., had been merged with a prominent financial technology company. To celebrate, I wanted to treat those who had been by my side the most with a great day out. I didn’t think it would be so hard to make a good plan until I found myself spending hours looking up places on Google, Yelp, Groupon, OpenTable, and more. Then, I saw how awkward it could be sharing fares for things like Uber, and of course Venmo,” he said. Russo then decided to use his vast experience in iOS development to quickly build an app that could take care of everything with just one button, and thus VentureMe was born.
Previously, the startup had also won “Best Pitch” at the Stevens Venture Centre Launchpad event. Now, Russo and his team have their eyes on the Stevens Entrepreneur Awards Competition.
When asked for advice he would like to give to other entrepreneurs, Russo said, “Know what you excel at, and use it to your advantage. I never thought my years of iOS tinkering would bring me to where I am now. I honestly just wanted make a Doodle Jump clone when I started in high school.” He also revealed a key advice for startup pitching by saying, “Speak up, smile, and make others smile. You’d be amazed how effective these can be when presenting your ideas.”
VentureMe is accepting beta registrations on their website at http://venturemeapp.com. They will be having their first campus-wide release soon to those who register, and would love to get as many students as possible to download it.