This week our team received the tragic news that one of our Fearless Founders, Thomas (Tom) Savransky, died in a car crash at age 23. Tom was the founder of Enly, a sustainability conscientious fashion-tech startup that develops virtual fitting technologies. As a student, Tom participated in many of our Dingman Center programs while developing Enly from an idea to a business. In 2019, Tom’s hustle and commitment to taking Enly to market secured him a spot in our inaugural cohort of Terp Startup Fellows. Tom had the entrepreneurial spirit that we love to see in our student entrepreneurs and he will be terribly missed. The loss of Tom’s potential is heartbreaking.
The below comment from Tom’s co-founder, Jonathan (Jonny) Schneider, memorializes his entrepreneurial drive best:
“Tom’s spirit was one of an entrepreneur who was willing to do anything to make his business work. In his words, he was willing to sacrifice it all: health, friends, family, simple pleasures. In many ways, Tom embodied the story of the true entrepreneur, one who undergoes extreme sacrifice with little recognition. The mortal, real, industrious entrepreneur, rather than the glorified fantasy of the entrepreneur.”
Jonny shared with us that Tom’s favorite poem was “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost. We have included that poem below.
In February 2020, The Diamondback, an independent student newspaper associated with the University of Maryland, published this story on Tom’s journey building Enly.
Our thoughts are with Tom’s family, friends and loved ones as they grieve this incredible loss.
–Statement from Holly DeArmond, Managing Director, Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship on behalf of the Dingman Center team.
BY ROBERT FROST
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Tom pitching in the Pitch Dingman Competition Semifinals in 2019.
Enly team: Jonathan (Jonny) Schneider (left) and Tom Savransky (right)
Jonny (left) and Tom (right) during an Enly business trip to Los Angeles, California
So sad to hear we lost such a shining star. Deepest sympathies to his family.
love you by numbers:
2018.06: you started to work for me
200+: the number of shifts you covered for the international incubator
5: five stars performance of your work
40+: miles of hiking we did together
RIP, Thomas. —- from boss
Catherine, Brenda and I at NYFW hiTechMODA are still in shock of the loss of Tom. He was a brilliant man and will be truly missed. My condolences to his family and friends.
You were my very first true love, and I’ll never stop dreaming of you. I wish you almost nothing but serenity—but not so much serenity as to leave you bored. Through weal and woe, I’ll carry you with me always.