Starter Stories

In just a moment, you'll meet Ben Congleton —  Founder of Olark, a live chat software and data tool that serves colleges and universities of all shapes and sizes. Growing up, Ben wanted to be a professor like his father before him.  And while he completed both a bachelors and masters degree from Virginia Tech and started his PhD at the University of Michigan, Ben ultimately realized that he was a bit more interested in business than in higher education.So he decided to pursue one of the many business ideals he had noodled on for a few years. After starting a webhosting company, Ben realized that there was a dearth of great website chat tools – and he had this vision of making chat software that was as easily to install on a website as Google Analytics.And it was this idea that granted access to Olark (which was called Habla at the time) to Y Combinator, the most famous and prestigious of startup accelerators.So, he and his founding team moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and that's where things really started to take off. Tune in to hear the story of how Ben ended up living in Elon Musk's house next door to an apartment that Mark Zuckerburg had rented and ultimately bootstrapped the company to success. Discover more about how Olark can help your school get started with (or get better at) utilizing live chat at https://olark.com/enrollifyConnect with Ben on LinkedIn here. This episode is brought to you by Goodkind - an easy-to-use video engagement platform designed to make each of your prospects feel special, cared for and seen. Increase applications, increase yield, and decrease melt with the power of Goodkind.Starter Stories is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network.  If you like this podcast, chances are you'll like other Enrollify shows too!  Our podcast network is growing by the month and we've got a plethora of marketing, admissions, and higher ed technology shows that are jam packed with stories, ideas, and frameworks all designed to empower you to be a better higher ed professional. Our shows feature a selection of the industry's best as your hosts. Learn from Mickey Baines, Jeremy Tiers, Jaime Hunt, Corynn Myers, Jaime Gleason and many more. Learn more about The Enrollify Podcast Network at podcasts.enrollify.org. Our shows help higher ed marketers and admissions professionals find their next big idea — come and find yours! 

In just a moment, you'll meet Cooper Jones — Co-Founder of RahRah, a Community Engagement System that provides a simple solution to give students the inclusive and supportive experience they need to thrive while on campus.When Cooper was 5 years old, he came back from Sunday school one afternoon and proclaimed to his parents that he wanted to be a preacher and a motocross driver.  And while these dreams shifted a bit as he grew up, he does have a passion for community building and Iron Man racing — so, hey, there's some consistency here! After studying finance at Oklahoma State, Cooper went to work in consulting at Accenture.  And it was there that he was placed on a project serving a higher education client.  Working with this university opened Cooper's eyes to the incredible challenges that today's institutions face…and before too long,  ideas for how he might build technology to help address these challenges began to percolate. Tune in to hear the story behind how and why Cooper started RahRah. Learn more about this episode in our show notes. 

Bev is an artist. In high school, Bev spent her free time in the art studio painting, sculpting, and drawing — she was always great at focusing deeply on one project at a time and ensuring that it was truly “done” before moving onto the next one. After college, she began taking on some freelance design work for some friends and local nonprofits in the greater Columbus area.  And while she didn't know it at the time, a project here and a project there would eventually transform Bethge Graphic Design into Method which would then become Ologie. Recognized as one of Columbus' 30 most influential women by Business First, Bev continues to be engaged in the community, particularly helping aspiring women leaders become successful, and providing opportunities for young people to learn about the creative industry. Tune into the exciting story of how Bev built and scaled one of the country's most respected higher education branding and marketing agencies – working with brands like Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and Purdue, just to name a few!You can connect with Bev on LinkedIn and learn more about Ologie by visiting their website.  Learn more about this episode in our show notes.

In just a moment, you'll meet Chris Tsetsekos Co-Founder of FuzeMee — a new social media app for the college experience. Chris had accepted a Lacrosse scholarship and was ready to enroll in his freshman year at Tufts University…and then COVID hit. Once he learned that his first year at college was going to be spent mostly on Zoom, he decided to take a gap. And while some students use their gap years to travel across Europe or volunteer with a service organization, Chris decided to use his to try and make this idea he had had in his senior year of high school come to life. And that idea?  It was to build a better social media app for the entire college experience.  He didn't know it at the time, but just a year later, in collaboration with his Co-Founders Jon and David, he would raise close to a million dollars from investors across the country.Interested in learning more about FuzeMee?  You can do so here.  You can also connect with Chris on LinkedIn here.  

In just a moment, you'll meet Kavitta Ghai Co-Founder of Nectir, an edtech startup that brings Slack-like workspaces into every college and university classroom. Kavitta was pretty much born an entrepreneur…her very first hustle was in elementary school when she started selling stationery.  She'd collect letterhead and envelopes from her father's office and then sort into near bundles which she'd sell to her classmates. In her freshman year at UC Santa Barbara, she was introduced to Slack by one of her professors who decided to use it as a way for the class to ask questions and share ideas.  Kavitta was amazed at how superior her learning experience was in that class compared to her other classes…Slack transformed that 200 person lecture into a dynamic learning community.And that's when she started thinking…why wasn't there a tool like Slack for every college class?  What if every student at a university could join a channel for each course they enrolled in every semester?  Could this better the learning experience for students?  And perhaps even cut down on the time faculty and TAs spend answering questions about the course material?And it was these questions and others like them that ultimately led Kavitta and her Co-Founder, Jordan Long, to build Nectir.  Alright, get ready to meet Kavitta Ghai. 

In just a moment you'll meet Teresa Valerio Parrot, Founder and Principal of TVP Communications, a premier higher education communications firm.Growing up, Teresa wanted to be on Sesame Street.  She loved the authentic and positive character of the series and spent many an evening sitting on the couch next to her father watching Big Bird and Elmo teach important life lessons.Teresa's parents greatly valued education and she became the first female in her extended family to complete not just her bachelor's degree, but a master's as well — and yes, she's currently working on her EdD. After graduating from the University of Colorado with her BA in Communication, she went on to work in the President's office of the university as a special assistant.And it was here that Teresa really grew to understand and love the power of words. After many years at the University of Colorado, Teresa went to work at SimpsonScarborough and Widmeyer Communications after that.  One evening, a couple of her colleagues invited her out for drinks after work...and before Teresa could even take a sip of her beer, they asked a question that would change the rest of her life — “Why are you here? Why aren't you doing something on your own?”Tune in to hear the dynamic story of how this question inspired the birth of TVP Communications. You can learn more about Teresa and TVP Communications by visiting their website or following Teresa on Twitter.Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

In just a moment you'll meet Eric Drymer, Co-Founder and CEO of Takeoff, a brand new social learning app that pays Gen Z to learn within the context of a virtual study hall.  Growing up in Montreal, Eric always knew he wanted to build something that mattered...several members of his family were entrepreneurs, including his uncle who helped create one of the first sustainable cleaning products to really go mainstream.After graduating from the University of Southern California, Eric took a job in banking thinking it was “the right thing to do”...but before too long, that entrepreneurial bug that had bit his grandfather, uncle, and other family members before him finally made its way to Eric. What if there was a better way to inspire students to learn?  Was it possible to incentivize students to spend less time scrolling through TikTok and more time studying for the SAT?  Tune in to hear the story of how these questions ultimately inspired Eric to build and launch Takeoff. Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

Meet Robert Rosenbloom, Founder and CEO of PlatformQ.Robert came from a family of entrepreneurs. His grandfather started his own real estate business after immigrating from Europe and his father also started and ran his own business.  So, it was only natural that Robert was also bit by the entrepreneurial bug — he started his first business while still pursuing his undergraduate degree. But, when he graduated from McGill University, he thought it best to start his career on more stable ground — so he started his career in banking. A few years later, while pursuing his MBA at Columbia, Robert co-founded iCongo, which was an early ecommerce platform, and ultimately sold it to SAP.  Before too long, Robert had another idea…what if there was a better way to help students get a feel for what a college campus was like, without physically being there? And this idea would be the springboard for what would ultimately becoming Platform Q Education —  one of the leading developers of virtual experiences in higher ed. To learn more about Platform Q Education, visit their website here or explore a behind the scenes look at their Conduit platform on Enrollify Exclusives. Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

In just a moment, you'll meet Brian Hartnack, founder and CEO of Archer Education, an education technology company dedicated to personalizing student recruitment.Before finding his home in ed tech, Brian was quite active in the pre-dotcom-bubble startup scene in the late 90s. He worked at eToys, Gifts.com, and Rent.com where he helped grow the company from an early stage startup to an eventual $415 million acquisition by eBay in 2005.But perhaps the most interesting of Brian's professional undertakings was the very first job he had which involved working with cowboys, fly fishing, and shoeing horses — you'll have to listen for all the details.In this episode, you'll also meet Clayton Dean, Co-Founder of Circa Interactive, one of the leading digital advertising agencies in higher ed. After high school, Clayton went to Duquesne University on a swimming scholarship where he studied sports marketing and business administration.After graduating, he worked for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Orlando Magic for a brief stint before taking a job at DelTech, which is now Wiley Education Services — and this is where his passion for higher education was solidified.This passion ultimately led him to co-found Circa Interactive, which was acquired by Archer Education at the end of 2020. Tune in to hear Clayton and Brian talk about pivotal moments in their respective journeys as entrepreneurs and get a behind-the-scenes look into how and why they structured the merger the way they did.One final note — this is part two of the Archer/Circa story with a stronger emphasis on the building of Archer.  To hear the origin story of Circa and better understand what the news of the merger felt like on their side of the house, stream part one of this series!Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

In just a moment, you'll meet Clayton Dean and Joe Lapin from Circa Interactive. After a brief stint in sports marketing, Clayton started working at Deltech which would eventually become WIley Education Services.  It was there that he fell in love with higher education and began dreaming about the possibility of starting his own company that served the industry.Around this time, he also fell in love with something else — well, someone else, actually.  And while he didn't know it at the time, that someone would not only become his wife, but also introduce him to his future business partner, Joe, who would also become his future brother-in-law.Ten points if you followed all of that...and if not, no worries, Clayton and Joe tell the story so much better!Joe Lapin had just finished up his MFA and was working in media in Los Angeles. Joe is a remarkable writer and saw an opportunity to help colleges and universities tell their stories in ways that compelled students to enroll.  Over casual drinks one evening, while watching the sun set in southern California, Clayton further fleshed out his vision for a different kind of digital marketing agency...and this vision compelled Joe to take a risk and join Clayton and Robert (Circa's other Co-Founder) on the start-up journey. Tune in to hear how Clayton and Joe grew the team from 4 to 50 and why they decided to join forces with Archer Education. One final note — this is part one in a special two-part Starter Stories series about the Archer/Circa story with a stronger emphasis on the building of Circa.  To hear the origin story of Archer, and to better understand what the news of the merger felt like on their side of the house, stream part 2 of this series!Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

Ardis grew up in a rural farm town in Albania. He has always been a tinkerer — if you were to ask Ardis what he wanted to be as a young child, he'd tell you that he wanted to “build stuff.”  He figured out how to build antennas and electrical circuits long before he could drive!Albania was a communist country when Ardis was growing up, so his parents weren't able to pursue higher education until much later in life.  But in their minds, education was the greatest of priorities.  So, when an opportunity presented itself for Ardis to leave Albania as a 14-year-old and move to the states, there was no discussion or consideration — they helped Ardis pack his bags and he was on the next flight to JFK. Tune in to access some of the most significant vignettes of Ardis' life that propelled him from tinkerer, to engineer, to businessman, to entrepreneur, to founder of one of higher ed's most powerful CRMs, Element451.Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

In a moment, you'll meet Justin Rotman — Co-Founder and CEO of Goodkind.If you were to be a fly on the wall during dinner time at the Rotman home when Justin was in grade school, chances are you'd witness a lively brainstorm of new product, service, and business ideas that just might be “the next big thing.”Getting good grades wasn't the way in which Justin's parents measured success. Instead, they emphasized creative problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Growing up in this environment may or may not have inspired Justin's love of the liberal arts, which ultimately led him to pursue a degree at Queen's University in Ontario. And it was there where Justin would meet fellow idea-generator, Michael Warshafsky, who would eventually become Co-Founder and CTO of Goodkind. But before the idea of building a video messaging platform that makes communications personal again began to percolate, the two tinkered with a few other business ideas. One of those was a textbook e-commerce store that was poised to disrupt university bookstores across the country.Now, it didn't do so...but it did lay the foundation for what would become one of the most exciting ed tech companies to emerge in the last decade. In fact, Goodkind has just been accepted into Y Combinator — the most prestigious of startup accelerators.  Many of tech's hottest companies got their start at YC including Airbnb, Coinbase, DoorDash, Dropbox, and Instacart. With an acceptance rate of only 1.5%, and an average of 10,000 applicants per cycle, competition is stiff (to say the least). So if you're inspired by Justin's story and want to be able to say “I knew Goodkind when…”, the best way to help is to share this episode on your social networks and request a demo of their product with a team member at www.wearegoodkind.com. Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

In just a minute, you'll meet Elizabeth Johnson — Co-Founder and Chairman at SimpsonScarborough, one of the leading market research, branding, and design firms serving higher education today.In her senior year of high school, Elizabeth thought she'd go and study psychology in college. But, after a conversation with her father who was footing the bill, she learned that she had two different major options before her —pre-med or mathematics.And while she chose the latter, her favorite college class was actually an art history course! After graduating, she went to work at a small market research firm before joining Carnegie Communications, now Carnegie Dartlet, where she worked for 10 years and served as COO until she received a phone call that would change her life forever.Christopher Simpson, the former Vice President and Spokesman for Indiana University who had been in charge of handling Bob Knight's departure as a Hoosier back in 2000, asked Elizabeth to lunch to discuss an idea he had.That idea would lead to the founding of SimpsonScarborough. She didn't know it at the time, but just a few months after the company was founded, Christopher received a terminal cancer diagnosis.Tune in to hear the inspiring, challenging, and remarkable story of the birth and growth of SimpsonScarborough.Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

In a moment, you'll meet TK Gondo — Co-Founder and CEO of Polygon Students — a software platform for college and university resident life teams to manage, grow and retain their residence communities.TK was born in Zimbabwe, but moved to Essex in the UK when he was just 4 years old. In grade school, he thought he'd be a pilot, but by the time he was in high school, he was determined to join the military.He trained physically and mentally for two years in hopes of joining the British Armed Forces, but was ultimately denied due to an unforeseen medical condition.Unsure of what he was supposed to do with his life, he enrolled in university and decided to study English literature. TK wasn't thriving in school, so he dropped out and moved to Barcelona to work in business development at a financial services firm.But then, TK was bit by the entrepreneurship bug and the entire trajectory of his life changed. Listen in to hear the story of how an English literature university drop-out built one of the most exciting new startups in the edtech space today.Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

In a moment, you'll meet Rebecca De Beukelaer — Founder and CEO of Unisalad, a community and marketplace app for university students.Growing up, Rebecca thought she'd be a housewife, have a lot of kids, and perhaps a couple of dogs and horses as well. Entrepreneurship was all but a foreign word to her.Rebecca's parents encouraged her and her siblings to pursue career paths that made them happy. There was no one definition of what "success" looked like within the context of a profession, but rather an expectation to do good work and lean into the opportunities that life presented.So when a Facebook group that she had started for students to buy, sell, and exchange concert tickets at her university in Nottingham grew to over 36,000 members, Rebecca knew she had to capitalize on this audience.Tune in to hear the story of how Rebecca built Unisalad and how she successfully pivoted after COVID-19 forced students across the UK back home and her app usage all but disappeared. Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

In just a moment, you'll meet Rick Bailey. If you were to ask Rick in the eighth grade what he wanted to be when he grew up, he would have told you “an ad guy, an architect, or a secret agent.” Rick's father and grandfather were both ministers, and impressed upon him the importance of doing work that honored God and added value to the world.After working in advancement at Spring Arbor University for several years, Rick was presented with an opportunity to work at Imprint, an ad agency and creative services firm that had decided to grow its higher education services portfolio.Rick learned a lot during those eight years about the creative process and client care, but in all that time, nothing could have prepared him for how the agency crashed and ultimately burned. Tune in to hear the humble, yet inspiring story of how the demise of Imprint led to the birth of RHB — one of the most respected consultancies in the education marketing and branding space.Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

In just a moment, you'll meet Nick Freud — Co-Founder of CampusReel.Nick grew up in Manhattan and went to high school in the Upper East Side. After graduating from college, he decided to break out of his homogeneous community and do something wildly different.Rather than take a corporate job in NYC, something most of his friends were doing, Nick bought a one-way ticket to Thailand. He taught elementary school math there for half a year before hopping on over to Australia and securing a bartending gig in Byron Bay.After six months of mixing drinks and exploring the Australian coast, Nick was convinced that a conventional path just wasn't for him...so when he got back stateside, he knew it was time to put one of the many ideas bouncing around his brain into action.Tune in to hear the story of how he and his college buddy, Rob Carroll, built the largest repository of college student user-generated content, featuring more than 17,000 videos created by students at 355 colleges and universities.Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

In just a moment, you'll meet Soham Khaitan — Co-Founder and COO of Ambi, a first-of-its-kind social learning network.In high school, Soham's parents had encouraged him to pursue a career in consulting or work for a Fortune 500 brand (after graduating from college of course). But in his junior year at Babson College in Massachusetts, he was bit by the entrepreneurial bug and began to work on what would become Ambi.In the episode, Soham discusses how he convinced the same folks who designed Instagram and Slack to design Ambi, and what it was like pitching Ambi, which is poised to compete with Facebook, to Arielle Zuckerberg, Mark Zuckerberg's sister.Tune in to hear the origin story of the company that just might disrupt the Blackboards of the world and become the premier digital space where every college student comes to learn, network, and collaborate.Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

Meet Adam Metcalf — Co-Founder of ZeeMee, a private social community for colleges. In high school, Adam wanted to work in foreign service — he thought he might be an ambassador one day. After graduation, he had the opportunity to live overseas in places such as Belize, China, Russia, and the country of Georgia.And it was while in Moscow that Adam met his future wife Mandy and became a Christian. Once Adam came to faith, his dreams and priorities shifted a bit, and he wound up moving to Wyoming where he took a job as a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley. After the financial crisis of 2008, Adam decided it was time to do something different — he just wasn't all that passionate about advising folks on how to increase the performance of their portfolios. So, Adam went and got a master's degree in education and became a teacher.It was during this chapter of his life where the idea, which would eventually become ZeeMee, was born. Tune in to hear the remarkable story of a company that almost lost it all, but pivoted to become the No. 1 college search app and one of the most popular social network apps on the app store.Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

Meet Liz Gross — Founder and CEO of Campus Sonar, the first and only social listening agency dedicated to higher ed.If you were to ask Liz in high school what she wanted to be, she would probably have said a “youth pastor” or “a pastor's wife,” but certainly not “an entrepreneur.” And yet, from an early age, Liz had an eye for opportunity.Liz's father was a builder, and every year the homes he built were featured in Wisconsin's Parade of Homes. One year, while still in grade school, Liz attended the event with her dad and noticed how long people had to wait in line before viewing one of the homes. I bet these people could use some lemonade, she thought...and her first enterprise was born. Liz is an award-winning speaker, author, and strategist and calls herself a “higher ed lifer.” She worked as a program outreach coordinator at the University of Wisconsin for several years before starting her career in social media at Ascendium (formerly Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation), which ultimately paved the way for Campus Sonar to be born. Tune in to hear the compelling story of how a senior in college, who was about to become a staffer for the college ministry organization, Campus Crusade for Christ, made a last-minute decision to do something entirely different and, eventually, became one of the most trustworthy voices in higher education today.Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

Meet Matt Diteljan — Co-Founder and CEO of Glacier. Glacier is the leader in high school and student advertising. With the largest high school advertising network and the largest student influencer network in North America, Glacier helps colleges and universities reach Gen Z in contextually relevant ways. Matt was born and raised in Calgary, Canada. During university, Matt realized a traditional career path wasn't for him. He was interested in too many different things — from psychology to media and statistics to marketing — so he settled on entrepreneurship. After his first startup, Faculty Wars, the largest network of dodge ball tournaments in Calgary (and perhaps in all of Canada), was shut down by the institutional powers that be, and his idea of launching a student laundry service wasn't gaining much traction, Matt sat down with his good friend Patrick Straw. It was that brainstorm session that yielded the idea behind what would become Glacier. Tune in to learn more about the experiences, the opportunities, the mistakes, and the sheer luck that inspired a couple of college kids from Canada to build the continent's largest student influencer network. Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes.

Meet Michael Stoner — the Co-Founder of mStoner, one of the most respected digital creative agencies in the education sector that has worked with more than 300 universities in eight different countries. Michael grew up on a farm. As a child, he spent a lot of time outdoors reading, thinking, and dreaming. He even wrote a science fiction book (which he just might share with us if this podcast gets 10,000 downloads). In high school, he started an underground newspaper that was eventually shut down by the school's administration (they didn't agree with the perspective on social issues that Michael was passionate about).Michael always thought a little differently — his unique perspective propelled him to take risks, challenge conventional thinking, and adopt and invest in new technologies and communication channels. After heading up communications at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, working in media at The College Board and Halstead Communications, he founded and led the New Media division at Lipman Hearne during the advent of the internet in the late 90s. Committed to quality, innovation, and technology, in 2001, Michael decided it was time to start something new. Tune in to find out how and why, with the support of his colleague, Voltaire, he founded mStoner. Learn more about this episode in our show notes.

Meet Diego Fanara — Co-Founder and CEO of Unibuddy. Unibuddy is a student engagement platform that helps institutions with higher education recruitment, marketing, and admissions. By connecting existing students to prospective students, Unibuddy helps students make one of the most important purchasing decisions of their life — where to go to college.Diego was born and raised in Geneva, Switzerland. As a kid, he had always dreamed of working on Wall Street or London in financial management, but those dreams were disrupted as he began his university search. Diego's parents chose the path of entrepreneurship over advanced education, so it was up to him to figure out if, where, and when he wanted to go to university.And it was during this season of his life where the idea which would become Unibuddy began to form. Fast forward a few years. In 2017, Unibuddy launched with five partner schools in the UK. Today, they work with more than 250 institutions around the world. Tune in to learn more about the people, the experiences, and the opportunities that inspired a young man who dreamed of being a broker in New York to become a leading pioneer in education technology. Learn more about this episode in our show notes.

Meet Seth Odell — the founder and CEO of Kanahoma, a boutique education marketing agency based in San Diego, California. Seth has had a lot of jobs...he's worked as a clubhouse manager for a minor league baseball team, managed a deli in Yellowstone National Park, worked the graveyard shift at a donut shop, and even redid Dr. Phil's kitchen. But for the past decade, he's called higher education home, leading brand and marketing initiatives at UCLA, Southern New Hampshire University, and National University System. He also founded and eventually sold Higher Ed Live — the industry's first and only live weekly web show network. Tune in to learn more about the people, the experiences, and the opportunities that inspired a young man who wasn't great at school to become a leading pioneer in education marketing.Learn more about this episode in our show notes.

Welcome to Starter Stories, a podcast that explores the stories behind the world's leading education technology companies and education consultancies...and the people who created them. In each episode, you'll hear about the grit, the strategies, the wins, the failures, and the serendipity that transpired to take a half-baked idea and bring it to life.