天美传媒app

In the nearly four decades since he graduated from 天美传媒app, Peter Bell 鈥�86, P鈥�20, P鈥�25 has been an entrepreneur, a CEO, a college professor, and a 天美传媒app trustee. But most consistently, he鈥檚 been a venture capitalist, helping entrepreneurs grow their crazy ideas into successful companies. Back in the summer of 2011, one of those young entrepreneurs was Tom Coburn 鈥�13, a rising junior at 天美传媒app. Coburn caught Bell鈥檚 attention when he won the Boston College Venture Competition with his idea for a software company, called Jebbit, that allowed companies to gather data about their customers through interactive methods like quizzes.

Intrigued, Bell offered Coburn the use of his office that summer as a place to continue to workshop the idea. Jebbit went on to become a juggernaut in the digital marketing space, and Coburn ultimately dropped out of 天美传媒app to run it full-time. Coburn and Bell stayed in touch, however, and in 2014, Coburn approached Bell with an idea for an organization in which Eagle alumni could help younger 天美传媒app entrepreneurs by investing money, experience, and mentorship into their new companies. Thus was born Soaring Startup Circle, or SSC, which eventually evolved from a nonprofit into a venture capital fund. 鈥淭he whole mission has been around embracing, strengthening, and helping the 天美传媒app entrepreneurial community,鈥� Bell said.

In three rounds of funding to date, the SSC has raised and invested in excess of $5 million into more than sixty-eight听 companies founded by 天美传媒app alumni. But money is just the beginning of the support the fund offers the entrepreneurs it works with. SSC鈥檚 150 天美传媒app alumni mentors鈥攍awyers, business executives, accountants, and other professionals鈥攑rovide free advice to the founders in the network. Additionally, every summer the SSC selects a few promising new company founders, gives them $10,000 to refine their startup ideas, and brings them all together for a twelve-week program featuring workshops, one-on-one coaching, and guest speakers.

Today, SSC has four general partners: Bell, Coburn, Christina Quinn 鈥�13, who is the founder and managing partner of Lua LLC, and Duncan Walker 鈥�13, a Jebbit cofounder who is the CTO at Heard Inc. The team also includes three venture partners.When it comes to finding the next great entrepreneur, Bell said, 鈥渆xperience is overrated. If you look at the companies you use every day, most were started by people in their twenties. We meet people really early and help them before it鈥檚 obvious. That鈥檚 why it works.鈥�

Many SSC-backed companies have found success, such as the real estate software company Aryeo, which Zillow acquired in 2023 for $35 million; Moolah Kicks, a women鈥檚 basketball sneaker brand beloved by WNBA players; and Beam, the vitamin brand promoted by celebrities like former Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson. SSC uses what鈥檚 known as a two and twenty fee structure. That means that when one of their companies is sold, goes public, or exits the fund for some other reason, 80 percent of SSC profits go to investors, and the other 20 percent, plus a 2 percent fee, goes to the partners that manage the fund. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e an investor and you don鈥檛 get a good rate of return, you鈥檙e not going to keep investing,鈥� Bell said. 鈥淭his is not a donation, we鈥檙e investing in people.鈥�

SSC was deliberately established to be separate from Boston College, Bell said, because the fund simply cannot invest in every alum鈥檚 idea, a reality that might place the University in a difficult position. When deciding whether to invest in a company, Bell said the fund looks for 鈥渢he five Ms鈥濃�攖he company鈥檚 market, management team, business model, momentum, and magic. Of the nearly seventy companies that SSC has invested in, thirteen have entirely women leadership teams or a sole founder who is a woman, twenty-two have at least one female founder, and half have a founder with an identity that is traditionally underrepresented in venture capital. In the broader industry, Quinn said, nearly 84 percent of global venture capital investments in 2024 went to companies with entirely male founding teams.听SSC has an application form on its website that founders can fill out to connect, but Quinn said that most of the fund鈥檚 investments do not originate with an elevator pitch. 鈥淚 think the best way to get an investment from someone is to focus on building a human relationship,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ecause at the end of the day, investors are people.鈥� Below, you鈥檒l learn more about SSC and some of the companies it has invested in.

Trevor Rozier-Byrd 鈥�05 was disillusioned with corporate America. It was 2019 and Rozier-Byrd was working at a financial services company, feeling disappointed that there appeared to be so little effort in his sector to address the economic challenges faced by many communities of color. 鈥淗ere I was at one of the largest financial institutions in the world,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd we were having these conversations as if we didn鈥檛 know how to solve for issues of the racial wealth gap, financial access, and inclusion.鈥� So he came up with a plan. He would use the skills he鈥檇 developed as a corporate transactional lawyer and director of strategy and business development to help financially empower people. 鈥淚 decided I wanted to be part of the solution,鈥� he said. His career in finance had illuminated three pathways to building wealth: owning real estate, owning a business, and investing in the stock market. Because a much smaller percentage of Black families are invested in the stock market than White families, he decided that the best way to help was to teach people how to invest. He got to work building an app to do just that. He began asking for help from friends in finance, law, and startups, and for months, he would stay up until 3 a.m. to refine his business plan. In 2020, he launched Stackwell, an app that simplifies investing by automatically investing money that users deposit. The app also automatically rebalances portfolios to keep them in tune with investors鈥� financial goals. Stackwell, a for-profit company, charges a $5 monthly subscription, keeping the service accessible to low-income users, and does not charge fees to users for assets under its management. Stackwell further distinguishes itself from other investment platforms by including articles about finance. Rozier-Byrd met the SSC partners through connections from 天美传媒app, and he ultimately received two investments from the fund. Today, Stackwell has seven full-time employees and more than thirty thousand users, many of them generated through partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities, and with other institutions that serve minority communities. Stackwell partner organizations pay for participants to access the app and provide seed money for them to invest in the market. In one program, for instance, Stackwell runs on-campus investment workshops and gives students their first $1,000 to invest, all of it made possible through $1.65 million in grant funding from The Prudential Foundation and other philanthropic organizations. 鈥淲e鈥檙e showing up and saying, we see you, and we have this unwavering belief in your upward mobility and potential,鈥� Rozier-Byrd said.

By听the time she graduated from 天美传媒app, Bailey Renger 鈥�22 had interned at NASA, worked on quantum computing at Harvard, and been accepted to a PhD program at Brown, but it was a personal medical experience that inspired her to launch her startup, BeSound Breast Health. The company provides women with easy access to advanced ultrasounds that use AI technology to scan for breast cancer. BeSound was formally founded last year by Renger, who is CEO, and John Stanco 鈥�18, the company鈥檚 chief technology officer, but it began as a concept five years ago, when Renger began experiencing pelvic pain. An ultrasound at the time revealed a tumor on her ovaries, but could not determine whether it was cancerous. As she spent months fighting with her insurance company to cover the cost of further imaging, Renger was struck by the contrast between the ready availability of the advanced technology she was using in her research and the struggle for access to other technology that could provide answers about her health. 鈥淲e can see to the edge of the universe, literally, but it鈥檚 so difficult to see two and a half centimeters into the human body,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a physics or even a technology problem, it鈥檚 an access problem.鈥� In 2022, Renger participated in the SSC Summer Accelerator program before heading off to pursue her doctorate at Brown. During the twelve-week program, she began building BeSound and soon dropped out of Brown to pursue it full-time. This fall the company will open its first clinic in Los Angeles, where it will provide the advanced scans, which can quickly and accurately determine whether a lesion is a malignant tumor, a cyst, or something else. BeSound plans to open clinics nationwide in the coming months via partnerships with diagnostic companies. Women can use the BeSound app to sign up for scans, which cost about $350, and then to view their results. 鈥淚t鈥檚 diagnostic imaging that can reduce unnecessary biopsies,鈥� Renger said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really empowering for women to have more answers at the point of getting a scan or shortly after.鈥� Today, Renger herself is in good health, but she makes sure to get follow-up scans every six months. 鈥淲hat I find really motivating is 99 percent of breast cancers when they鈥檙e detected early are survivable,鈥� Renger said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really exciting to see those statistics and be able to provide a solution to women because it鈥檚 the closest thing we have to a cure.鈥�

Branick Weix 鈥�19 had a relatively unusual job in high school. Rather than flip burgers or bag groceries, Weix worked as a real estate photographer, getting paid to use a drone to take aerial photos that agents used to market properties. The gig taught him about the administrative challenges professional photographers face with things like payroll, scheduling, and digitally storing all the photos they take. Out of those challenges came Weix鈥檚 concept for Aryeo, the company he cofounded in his dorm room during his sophomore year. The software platform automates many of the administrative tasks required of professional photographers.

As a sophomore at 天美传媒app, Weix got to know SSC general partner Tom Coburn 鈥�13 while enrolled in TechTrek, a popular course that allows students to meet with entrepreneurs. Coburn was one of the alumni who encouraged Weix鈥檚 ambitions to launch Aryeo, and together with TechTrek Professor John Gallaugher and Shea Center for Entrepreneurship Director Jere Doyle, helped teach him everything from how to create his first pitch deck to how to fundraise. In 2018, Weix won 天美传媒app鈥檚 Strakosch Venture Competition with his pitch for Aryeo, which gave him $15,000 to continue building the company. 天美传媒app also provided him with office space to work on the idea, and he spent hours cold-calling dozens of local photographers asking them to try his software. From there, the company experienced meteoric growth. After SSC became one of Aryeo鈥檚 earliest investors, in 2019, the company hired its first employee in 2020. By 2023, more than 10 percent of all real estate transactions in the country were being processed through its software. One regular customer was the powerhouse real estate website Zillow, which ended up buying Aryeo that same year for $35 million. Weix was twenty-six. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little like you don鈥檛 know how to wrap your head around it,鈥� Weix said. 鈥淚t was extremely gratifying.鈥� He continued working for Zillow as Aryeo CEO until 2024. He鈥檚 now in the early days of building his second startup, which SSC has already invested in. Weix also serves as an SSC mentor, usually focused on advising the network鈥檚 young entrepreneurs who work in software. 鈥淵ou see these people go start their own companies and you never know how it鈥檚 going to come back around,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 love to help people go build more things out in the world.鈥�

When Bo Brainerd 鈥�25 was a junior at 天美传媒app, she found herself fed up with modern dating. At social events on the weekends, people weren鈥檛 approaching each other. Things were a little better on the dating apps, where she had plenty of matches, but her conversations rarely led to dates. What was needed, she decided, was a dating app that didn鈥檛 just connect people, but actually helped facilitate their first meeting. So Brainerd came up with the idea for Ophelia, a dating app that would match couples and then plan their date. Brainerd鈥檚 concept won the 2023 Start@Shea Elevator Pitch Competition, an annual student startup competition run by 天美传媒app鈥檚 Carroll School of Management. It then placed second in 天美传媒app鈥檚 Strakosch Venture Competition. Impressed, SSC general partner Christina Quinn 鈥�13 recommended that Brainerd apply for the 2024 SSC Summer Accelerator, in which a few new entrepreneurs are selected to attend an intensive twelve-week startup training course and provided with mentorship and $10,000 to develop their business. The program helped Brainerd refine her concept for Ophelia. Today, the platform no longer connects people. Instead, users must already have someone they want to go on a date with and answer a few questions about their interests. (Would they rather attend a sports game or walk around a museum?) The app then curates a date itinerary for them using a database of Ophelia鈥檚 local business partners鈥攅verything from pottery studios to gaming arcades鈥攁nd charges a fee equal to 10 percent of the total cost of the date. There are also options for creating your own itinerary. Brainerd said SSC has helped her immensely. In addition to the investment she received, she鈥檚 also learned how to code and build her website from the fund鈥檚 mentors. 鈥淚 owe my entire metamorphosis from founder to entrepreneur to SSC,鈥� she said.听 When Ophelia officially launched in September, it already had more than five thousand users on its waiting list. The app is only available in Boston for now, but Brainerd hopes to expand to New York City by the end of this year. 鈥淧eople ask me, 鈥榳hat鈥檚 the end goal?鈥欌�� Brainerd said. 鈥淚鈥檓 like, I just want people to be happy and in love.鈥�

Back in 2017, when Dave Nguyen JD鈥�06, MSF鈥�08 and Eunice Byun were living in New York City, the two friends made a pact that would change their lives: to stop eating so much takeout. As they started cooking more and ordering less, they noticed a hole in the market for kitchen tools. 鈥淭here was a lot of stuff that was really expensive at specialty stores, like a $300 chef鈥檚 knife that was way too intimidating for us,鈥� Nguyen said. 鈥淭he alternative was a $20 knife that didn鈥檛 feel well-designed or good quality.鈥� Nguyen, who was then director of retail planning at Chanel, and Byun, vice president of global digital marketing at Revlon, saw an opportunity. Together, they drew on their corporate experience to start Material Kitchen, a purveyor of affordable, high-end kitchenware ranging from pans and whisks to ice cream scoops and cloth dinner napkins. After hearing about SSC, Nguyen reached out to SSC general partner Peter Bell 鈥�86 and was able to secure an investment from the fund in 2023. Today, Material Kitchen products are sold in retailers like Bloomingdale鈥檚 and The Container Store. The company has been featured in national publications such as Vogue, Bon App茅tit, and New York Magazine, and has nearly one hundred thousand social media followers. SSC provided the growing company with financial support, of course, but 鈥淚 had also been looking for ways to become more active in the 天美传媒app community and thought that this could be a way to do so,鈥� Nguyen said. He鈥檚 an active participant in the SSC Slack group, regularly answering business questions from other entrepreneurs in SSC portfolio companies; volunteers at SSC events for 天美传媒app students; and last semester acted as a mentor in the University鈥檚 Accelerate@Shea entrepreneur program. Looking ahead, he and Byun hope to one day open a brick-and-mortar store. They also plan to continue using sustainable materials in their products, including a microplastic-free cutting board and a salad bowl made from recycled plastic and renewable sugarcane.

When Dan Brett 鈥�18 entered the SSC Summer Accelerator program back in 2020, he and his cofounder, Robert Harrington 鈥�18, had an idea for a meal kit delivery service. It wasn鈥檛 long, though, before Brett and Harrington realized that the whole thing wasn鈥檛 viable. So to bring in extra money, they started delivering Christmas trees dressed as Santa,听 unexpectedly making national headlines and enough income to fund a new idea for a company called Dryfter. Today, the company owns and operates a network of Vermont vacation homes outfitted specifically for large group events like bachelor parties, work retreats, and weddings. Dryfter鈥檚 houses, which are each large enough to sleep more than a dozen people, are equipped with amenities like golf simulators, poker tables, saunas, and pickleball courts. The idea was inspired by customer frustrations with property-rental companies like Airbnb. 鈥淲e just kept hearing from people over and over again that the experience wasn鈥檛 great,鈥� said Brett, who is Dryfter鈥檚 CEO. (Harrington has since left the company). 鈥淭he hosts weren鈥檛 responsive, there were ridiculous fees, and it wasn鈥檛 great for large groups. So our original concept was, we can do this better.鈥� What sets Dryfter apart from its competitors?听 Primarily, it鈥檚 that the company owns all of its properties. After a successful eight-month pilot program using rented homes, Dryfter raised enough capital in 2022 to purchase its first home, and has since acquired four more. The company continues to benefit from its association with SSC. It found some of its biggest investors through SSC connections, and Brett sends out monthly emails to SSC members, sometimes with questions about business matters, like how to monetize Dryfter鈥檚 social media following, which has ballooned to nearly one million people. Dryfter promotes a 鈥渉yper fixation on hospitality鈥� among the company鈥檚 small team of twelve part-time employees. All guest messages, for instance, are answered within five minutes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all completely in-house,鈥� he said, 鈥渨hich leads to a much better guest experience.鈥�

As听a successful tech executive,听听Jason Krantz 鈥�95, P鈥�23 is more than just an SSC investor, he鈥檚 also one of the fund鈥檚 150 alumni mentors, a network of professionals including lawyers, business executives, and accountants who give free advice to entrepreneurs associated with SSC. Krantz is the founder and executive chairman of Definitive Healthcare, a technology company that generated more than $252 million in revenue last year. But despite his success, memories of founding his first company as an inexperienced twentysomething have never left him and inform his mentorship of SSC鈥檚 young entrepreneurs. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really looking at, what are my battle scars? What are the things I鈥檇 do differently if I could go back in time?鈥� Krantz said of his approach. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about trying to teach those lessons to allow them to scale quicker, make fewer mistakes, and achieve all their goals.鈥� Access to mentors such as Krantz is one of the most valuable benefits for the handful of young entrepreneurs who are accepted into SSC鈥檚 Summer Accelerator program each year. During the program, the participants receive one-on-one coaching from mentors with experience in related industries. The mentors also deliver talks during the program, covering such important topics as what to look for in hiring early employees, how to sell a product as it鈥檚 being made, how to get products to market quickly, and how to rapidly innovate. Krantz鈥檚 biggest piece of advice for young entrepreneurs? Just go for it. 鈥淲orst case scenario, you give this a whirl for a couple of years and the stars don鈥檛 align,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut the amount you learn and the value you have to the next startup or employer goes up dramatically.鈥� 鈼�