Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

DC: What is your name, major, and anticipated graduation year?
Rosario: Ian Rosario- Architecture & Spanish double-major, Class of 2022

DC: In two to three sentences, how would you describe your startup?
Rosario: Tiny Theatre is a mission-driven venture that helps elementary kids build social skills, confidence, & reading fluency through FUN, interactive, theatre activities. Unlike traditional activities used to help students in speech language therapy, Tiny Theatre’s creates printable activities that allow students to grow comfortable in social environments in a fun way.

DC: At what point did you know you wanted to create your own startup?
Rosario: I knew I’ve wanted to start my own business since high school. I love entrepreneurship because you can use creativity to solve a problem. During my freshman and sophomore year, I used to ideate startup ideas with my roommate in the dorm.

DC: What or who is your biggest influence for your startup?
Rosario: I think the biggest influence for my startup is seeing its impact on students. I love to see how students grow out of their shell into their God-given gifts and personality. Empowering students influences me to continue working on this startup.

DC: How have the effects of the pandemic changed your company’s focus or ideas?
Rosario: The pandemic has made me think about the accessibility of my product. Since everyone has a different comfort and ability to interact with others, the pandemic has shifted my focus to really think about the end user’s situation.

DC: What updates or significant accomplishments can you share with us about your company from the last six months?
Rosario: The last six months have resulted in a pivot of my company. I have spent a lot of time interviewing potential customers and understanding their specific needs and pain points. Based on these interviews, Tiny Theatre has pivoted from only focusing on literacy, to primarily helping solve the need to build social skills.

DC: What do you feel that you have achieved from participating in Terp Startup Accelerator this summer?
Rosario: I feel like I have come to understand my “why” for this venture. I deeply enjoy helping people communicate and creating safe spaces for them to express themselves. Through Tiny Theatre, I think I am equipping kids to feel safe & comfortable in social situations.

DC: If you could give advice to any aspiring entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Rosario: There is so much learning, customer discovery, and customer acquisition that you can do without spending a dollar. I would recommend spending time in the pre-launch phase to deeply hear from your future customers & understand their needs (this also saves yourself some money).

For more information about Tiny Theatre, please visit the website here.

DC: What are your names, majors, and graduation years?
Khan: Anaum Khan, Computer Science, 2024
Zack Khan, Computer Science, Spring 2019
Alice Shi, Computer Science, Fall 2019

DC: In two to three sentences, how would you describe your startup?
Khan: Stan is the creator loyalty platform where super fans (or stans as we like to call them) are able to sync their social media accounts to gain points and prizes for engaging with their favorite creators’ content, such as retweeting a tweet or watching a creators’ YouTube video.

DC: At what point did you know you wanted to create your own startup?
Khan: When I went to hackathons (like Technica and Bitcamp at Maryland), I learned how much I loved building new things. That led me to discover startups and join programs like Startup Shell and Terp Startup that further fueled my interest in entrepreneurship.

DC: What or who is your biggest influence for your startup?
Khan: My mom, who works super hard to raise a family, have a successful career, and serve others in her community through her non-profit work.

DC: How have the effects of the pandemic changed your company’s focus or ideas?
Khan: Live streaming blew up over the pandemic. Twitch’s hours watched grew 90% in 2020! This helped validate the need for Stan as more live-streamers joined Twitch to make money doing what they love.

DC: What updates or significant accomplishments can you share with us about your company from the last six months?
Khan: We signed our first creator, Tuonto (who has an audience of over 1 million fans); created our website and application; and launched a beta.

DC: What do you feel that you have achieved from participating in Terp Startup Accelerator this summer?
Khan: I learned a ton about all aspects of running a business that I didn’t have exposure to before, like market sizing, pricing, and more. I also got to meet an awesome community of fellow UMD entrepreneurs!

DC: If you could give advice to any aspiring entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Khan: Become close with your customers. That has helped us iterate much faster.

DC: What are your names, majors, minors, and graduation years?
Mascarenhas: My name is Bradley Mascarenhas and I completed my undergraduate degrees in Finance and Information Systems with a minor in Real Estate Development. I graduated this past Spring with the class of 2021, and I have enrolled into the Information Systems Master of Science program at the University of Maryland with an expected graduation date of May 2022. [UMD ‘21]

My co-founder’s name is Karsh Patel and he completed his undergraduate degree in Computer Science and double minored in Tech Entrepreneurship and Mathematics. [UMD ‘21]

DC: In two to three sentences, how would you describe your startup?
Mascarenhas: Our startup is the first co-living social network for professionals. Our platform helps professionals to relocate to new places by connecting them to others to build roommate groups and find housing all in one.

DC: At what point did you know you wanted to create your own startup?
Mascarenhas: I always possessed business-minded qualities and frequently enjoyed team building towards a common goal. During my first year of high school, I felt like I did not have anything purposeful to do other than being a student. I eventually decided to start building my personal brand and take lead in my school’s Academy of Finance. I also got involved with several ventures from private loan financing to drone technology. However, these ventures did not organically originate from me, so I knew it would not be my true calling. By the time I finished high school, I was voted “Most Likely To Be a Millionaire” and I thought that was what was important to me, but that ended up being far from true. I later realized in college that my purpose was really to have an impact on my generation. Personally, building a better world is a compelling enough reason to take all the risk that comes with entrepreneurship. The efforts you put in can impact thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people. And this is what drives me now. Problems that I face now which are shared by many others.

DC: What or who is your biggest influence for your startup?
Mascarenhas: The biggest influence for my startup is Justin Kan. He is the Founder of Twitch TV. He has a nice story of coming up with ideas and selling it to an investor he knew. He had a successful exit after a couple years and now Twitch is thriving even more and changed the gaming community forever. Additionally, he now has plenty of time to coach startups and teach the youth about best practices as an entrepreneur and professional. He also decided not to get back into startups so that he could work on himself and build stronger relationships with his family and friends and that’s a point in life that I aspire to reach. The other influence is Elon Musk who believes that time on Earth should be spent solving problems and doing things bigger than yourself.

DC: How have the effects of the pandemic changed your company’s focus or ideas?
Mascarenhas: The pandemic has pushed us to be resilient as a company by continuing to stay efficient and motivate our team even when we do not have the privilege of meeting in person frequently. We have adapted to online communication through Slack and Zoom and doing frequent team syncs to stay up to date. For our platform, it has not impacted us being a software service, but we have had to keep in mind people’s fear of COVID. As things return to a new normal, we are seeing people’s comfortability levels rising for renting which is a good timing for our platform’s entrance. We have been monitoring real estate market prices and activity, rent prices, renter activity, job markets, and more because those are all variables for the attractiveness of our platform. 

DC: What updates or significant accomplishments can you share with us about your company from the last six months?
Mascarenhas: I have a lot of great updates for the Dingman team and community. The big one for us is we’re ready to launch our MVP at the start of August, marking one full year since we’ve started working on this venture. This is our biggest milestone yet and we are very happy that we did it cost-effectively with less than $4k spent, including legal. We have also grown our team to include a part time graphic designer, a part time quality assurance analyst, and a programmer. We are currently looking to grow our team by one programmer and add a Director of Real Estate Partnerships for the upcoming semester. We have also narrowed down a good product roadmap for our business to follow in terms of feature releases to grow users and engagement on the platform. Lastly, we have identified a target niche for us to pursue initially which is small landlords ranging from 0-100 units.

DC: What do you feel that you have achieved from participating in Terp Startup Accelerator this summer?
Mascarenhas: We accomplished a lot this Summer from the efforts of the Dingman team as they guided us through the accelerator and oversaw the step-by-step developments of our individual ventures. The big three items for us were the financial models, the pitch deck, and mentorship insight into business model and MVP launch approach. For financial models, we did not have a solid template to forecast everything prior to this program. After receiving it, we were able to get that done finally. It is 100% subject to change due to the fact we will be editing our pricing approach but it’s awesome that it won’t take much effort to change our models. For our pitch deck, we had one done but it has significantly improved in both design and content due to us preparing well in advance for accelerator presentations. Lastly, our mentor Zeki has been phenomenal in sharing his CTO best practices as well as his recommendations for launching our platform. He has also given us thoughts about potential roadmap ideas. Regarding our overarching view of the program, it has been amazing. The atmosphere is very productive and organized due to the quality of participants and Dingman staff. I would recommend this to any Terp looking to grow their venture at a pre-financing stage. 

DC: If you could give advice to any aspiring entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Mascarenhas: I have a lot of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. The first is to set small goals. What we’re doing is large in nature and can feel overwhelming at times, however, when you set small goals and take it week-by-week you realize that it’s fun and it progresses rather quick. I also recommend seeking mentorship and a small circle of trustworthy friends to bounce ideas. It helps if those friends are end users because they can share perspectives of technical or business requirements needed for your product that you do not have. Lastly, keep participating in school programs to support your venture. Some areas of a program may not seem as attractive but even reiteration has great benefits for you. The support is almost always free with genuine co-participants and staff that want to see you succeed.

For more information about Prommuni, please visit the website here.

DC: What are your names, majors, and anticipated graduation years?
Daniel Yu, MBA, Marketing, 2022 and Mathew Parsons, MBA, Consulting & Finance, 2022.

DC: In two to three sentences, how would you describe your startup?
Yu: North Star Toys & Such seeks to equip parents with the resources to teach their children social and emotional management skills. We have a flagship product of a diverse set of dolls and a children’s book teaching kids all about emotions. We wish to be the one-stop shop for resources on social skills development and emotional intelligence for all parents with young children.

DC: At what point did you know you wanted to create your own startup?
Yu: I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur at an early age and when I heard of the Pitch Dingman Competition during my time in the MBA program, I knew I had to enter. We are grateful for the Fearless Ideas track, which helped turn our entrepreneurial dreams into a reality.

DC: What or who is your biggest influence for your startup?
Yu: Shark Tank. I watched Shark Tank religiously for years. Without that show and witnessing people succeed with their start-ups, I would have never tried to take this challenge on.

DC: How have the effects of the pandemic changed your company’s focus or ideas?
Yu: Since we could not attend trade shows and in-person events to promote our company and product, we really had to leverage social media and e-commerce to market ourselves. It’s been a learning curve to understand all about SEO optimization and hashtag strategy.

DC: What updates or significant accomplishments can you share with us about your company from the last six months?
Yu: Our first doll prototypes are ready for shipment from China, we finalized our children’s book manuscript, and we’re launching on Kickstarter in a month. Our website is also a week or two away from launching.

DC: What do you feel that you have achieved from participating in Terp Startup Accelerator this summer?
Yu: Through market research and consumer interviews, we began to understand more deeply about our target customer and their buying preferences, which has helped us tremendously in developing our prototypes.

DC: If you could give advice to any aspiring entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Yu: The entrepreneurship life is all about self-discipline. When you’re your own boss, you dictate your own terms – so make sure you find a good balance between working hard and playing harder. 

DC: What are your names, majors, and anticipated graduation years?
Rushil Joshi – Computer  Science, 2023
Thai Cao – Computer Science, 2023

DC: In two to three sentences, how would you describe your startup?
Joshi and Cao: We are a web app that uses A.I. to help students study in a more efficient manner by providing the necessary tools to succeed.

DC: At what point did you know you wanted to create your own startup?
Joshi and Cao: We wanted to create a startup when we won our hackathon freshman year, and we realized our ideas could become a sustainable reality.

DC: What or who is your biggest influence for your startup?
Joshi and Cao: This summer we have had access to numerous connections and resources. Our coach and Lottie are the biggest influences for our startup. We were able to receive great advice from both and they always kept us on our feet.

DC: How have the effects of the pandemic changed your company’s focus or ideas?
Joshi and Cao: We thought that our idea was versatile since the school migrated to an online environment.

DC: What updates or significant accomplishments can you share with us about your company from the last six months?
Joshi and Cao: We have started a closed beta. Now, users can start using our application after sign up.

DC: What are you hoping to achieve, or what have you already achieved, from participating in Terp Startup Accelerator this summer?
Joshi and Cao: Prior we had hoped to receive wisdom from multiple successful entrepreneurs who have tapped into a market similar to ours. Now, we have received more than that! We are happy to have a quality coach connected to us by the accelerator and the ability to talk to so many guest speakers.

DC: If you could give advice to any aspiring entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Joshi and Cao: Cliche as it sounds, never give up. Take the path slow but steady. Becoming an entrepreneur is not easy and there will be sleepless nights, just be prepared.

For more information about Mindgrasp.io, please visit the website here.

DC: What is your name, major, and graduation year?
Li: Xiaohui (Sophie) Li, MBA, Graduated 2021

DC: In two to three sentences, how would you describe your startup?
Li: As the climate change issues hit the media at an unprecedented rate, we want to help to prevent global warming by commercializing a methane conversation technology that can not only help methane emitters reduce greenhouse gas emission but also provide some value-adding products for their operations.

DC: At what point did you know you wanted to create your own startup?
Li: When I was in the full-time MBA program, we studied different industries and analyzed difficult business cases all the time. As I explored different career paths after graduation, a friend of mine came to me with a research project which has a great potential for commercialization. I felt excited to be able to use what I learned to make strategic decisions and steer the future of a real company. So we worked on the startup ever since. And I hope to develop both personally and professionally through my entrepreneurial journey.

DC: What or who is your biggest influence for your startup?
Li: Dingman Center has a great influence on my startup. Not to mention the prize from the Pitch Dingman Competition and funding from Terp Startup Accelerator. Dingman Center introduces many area experts and successful entrepreneurs to me. The journey through different programs makes me understand the entrepreneur path, structure my startup in a concrete way, it even improved my project management skill and self-awareness.

DC: How have the effects of the pandemic changed your company’s focus or ideas?
Li: Our company is a product of the pandemic, the social restrictions brought my partner and me together to work on the project remotely. And the virtual environment actually makes it more convenient for me to participate in different entrepreneur-focused workshops and accelerators.

DC: What updates or significant accomplishments can you share with us about your company from the last six months?
Li: Our startup came from a concept to a more realistic venture. As we talk with more and more mentors, industry experts, potential customers, and investors, our business model and market fit become more and more clear. We also establish a strategy going forward and plans for our funding application.

DC: What are you hoping to achieve during Terp Startup Accelerator this summer?
Li: I am hoping to primarily get into the startup circle and have some support along my venturing journey. I also hope to refine my business model and get a better market fit through primary and secondary research. Lastly, I have objectives to polish the pitch deck and business plan, as well as get the logo and website in place.

DC: If you could give advice to any aspiring entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Li: Even a successful entrepreneurial career may not be as glorious as people think. Be prepared for the humble inquiries and a roller coaster journey. However, it is highly rewarding to bring an idea to the market and see how you can make a difference in the world. So keep hustling!

DC: What is your name, major, and graduation year?
Oglesby: My name is Nishelle Oglesby. I recently graduated with my communications degree this past May.

DC: In two to three sentences, how would you describe your start-up?
Oglesby: Lydia Liriano is a lifestyle brand dedicated to providing rich self-care experiences for Black women to benefit their mental and physical health. 

DC: At what point did you know you wanted to create your own startup?
Oglesby: I wanted to create a start-up when I felt the want to create something that was of my own creativity and lacked limitations created by others. My idea for Lydia Liriano only came after experiencing hardship myself and learning how detrimental stress can be particularly for Black women. 

DC: What or who is your biggest influence for your startup?
Oglesby: The biggest influence on my start-up is the women in my family who came before me. I am a product of hardworking AfroLatina and African American women. The women in my family always put others before themselves, sacrificed, and were very hardworking. Hardworking Black women are my inspiration for improving the quality of self-care and advocating for self-care because they truly deserve it.

DC: How have the effects of the pandemic changed your company’s focus or ideas?
Oglesby: The pandemic emphasized the importance and necessity of self-care. Additionally, the pandemic highlighted racial disparities that worsen the mental and physical health of Black women. In the last year, we really have focused on what products we can provide to best alleviate the chronic stress that is prevalent in our community. We are really excited to help make an impact on the health of Black women. 

DC: What updates or significant accomplishments can you share with us about your company from the last six months?
Oglesby: Lydia Liriano will be ready to launch soon! Go to http://www.lydialiriano.com to be one of the first notified.

DC: What are you hoping to achieve during Terp Startup Accelerator this summer?
Oglesby: I am hoping to soak in and implement as much knowledge as possible in the launching of Lydia Liriano. I’ve been working on my venture for a long time and I am hoping to use the accelerator’s resources to create the best launch possible. 

DC: If you could give advice to any aspiring entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Oglesby: Patience is key! As the famous saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built overnight”. Good things take time. The journey is just as important as the destination. Goals are great, but remembering the big picture is important too. 

For more information about Lydia Liriano, please visit the website here.

DC: What is your name, major, and graduation year?
Garnett: Jacob Garnett, Material Science and Engineering, Spring 2021;
(And my co-founder who is not in Terp Startup) John Fitzell, Bioengineering, Spring 2020.

DC: In two to three sentences, how would you describe your startup?
Garnett: At JMakes3D, we help inventors and entrepreneurs get from ideation to functional prototype. We do this by providing affordable and reliable services including 3D design, 3D printing, and physical product development. Unlike our competition which focuses on mass production, our focus on functional prototypes helps early stage entrepreneurs validate their idea with customers and demonstrate their idea to investors and licensees.

DC: At what point did you know you wanted to create your own startup?
Garnett: During my Sophomore year after doing freelance with some startups.

DC: What or who is your biggest influence for your startup?
Garnett: Hearing about the bad product development experiences of other early stage entrepreneurs was one of the biggest influences on us starting JMakes3D.

DC: How have the effects of the pandemic changed your company’s focus or ideas?
Garnett: The pandemic changed the way we tried to find new clients. Previously, we found a lot of clients through in-person networking and referrals but with the pandemic stopping in-person events we are pivoting towards forming partnerships with other innovation-focused organizations like incubators and accelerators.

DC: What updates or significant accomplishments can you share with us about your company from the last six months?
Garnett: 1) 15 clients over the past 6 months
2) Pitch Dingman Semifinalists
3) Accepted into Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation’s Innovation Station.

DC: What are you hoping to achieve during Terp Startup Accelerator this summer?
Garnett: 1) Develop strategic partnerships with innovators in Maryland.
2) Develop workshops on the product development process.
3) Develop a two-year business plan.

DC: If you could give advice to any aspiring entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Garnett: Surround yourself with passionate people because they will keep you motivated.

For more information about JMakes3D, please visit the website here.

DC: What is your name, major, and anticipated graduation year?
Soclof: My name is Alan Soclof, and I am a Management major with an anticipated graduation date of December 2021.

DC: In two to three sentences, how would you describe your startup?
Soclof: Cruising Altitude is a financial media company focused on educating and inspiring the next generation of long term investors. Through our flagship newsletter, we share high quality, yet simple, stock analysis so anyone and everyone can learn more about the stock market! If Warren Buffett was born in 2000, he would read Cruising Altitude. 

DC: At what point did you know you wanted to create your own startup?
Soclof: Ever since I was young, I have absolutely loved investing! The process of analyzing and learning about the greatest companies in the world is something that I just find so fascinating! Throughout this year, while many of my contemporaries were bored and stuck at home, their interest in the stock market grew significantly. Many of the resources targeting Gen Zers are focused on day trading and cryptocurrencies and there is nothing out there (for Gen Z specifically) promoting fundamentally driven long term investing. I realized just how big the opportunity could be for a company that is looking to fill this niche, and I had to give it a shot!

DC: What or who is your biggest influence for your startup?
Soclof: I would say the biggest influence for a startup is Warren Buffett. The Oracle of Omaha (his awesome nickname!) is one of the greatest investors of all time. He has showed the whole world how being diligent and patient can lead to lucrative returns. Taking Buffett’s investing approach and mixing it with some Gen Z energy and humor is the Cruising Altitude way! 

DC: How have the effects of the pandemic changed your company’s focus or ideas?
Soclof: In many ways, we think we were born due to the pandemic! Gen Z flooded into the stock market at unprecedented rates during the pandemic because, well, that was all that was going on! This trend has created a significant opportunity for someone to educate and inspire these new investors to be long term investors (the proven and easiest way!) and Cruising Altitude is looking to do just that!

DC: What updates or significant accomplishments can you share with us about your company from the last six months?
Soclof: There are two significant accomplishments, other than getting accepted into the Terp Startup Accelerator, that we are very proud of. The first one is growing our newsletter from 0 to 750 subscribers in just a handful of months! The second accomplishment that we are proud of is that we released an awesome newsletter every week for 27 consecutive weeks. This consistency that we provide to our Cruisers is something that we value and take very seriously!

DC: What are you hoping to achieve during Terp Startup Accelerator this summer?
Soclof: During the Terp Startup Accelerator, our main goal is to (almost) double our subscriber-ship to 1,400 subscribers! The newsletter is free and only comes once a week (and it is really funny!) so make sure to sign up!

DC: If you could give advice to any aspiring entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Soclof: The advice that I would give to any aspiring entrepreneur is to work hard and be patient. Unlike your Amazon order, success does not come overnight! Trust the process, focus on your daily goals, and just wait and after a few months you will be shocked at how much you have accomplished!

For more information about Cruising Altitude LLC, please visit the website and sign up for the newsletter here.