Education:
San Jose State University
I received my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from San Jose State University in May of 2006. I started there in January of 2004 as a transfer student from Bryant College. Once enrolled, I quickly became the President of the Entrepreneurial Society (ES) and served as its leader from Spring 2004 to Fall 2005. While the President, our club enjoyed a healthy growth rate in membership of over 525%; a lot I know but when you start with almost no members the growth happens quickly. More can be found on the ES here.
Additionally, I worked on many projects including being a Research Assistant to Prof. Anu Basu and Prof. Roland Pollard, I competed in several Business Plan competitions; one of which I won 2nd place and used those funds to launch GEP. I started The Silicon Valley Connections program and was even fortunate enough to be awarded a free trip to Taiwan and China through the College of Engineering’s Global Technology Initiative scholars program; among other awards I was fortunate enough to win.
The College of Engineering selects three students from the College of Business for their GTI program. There were approximately 5,000 students in the CoB at the time. Among those, 25 applied and 3 were selected. I had a 12% chance of being selected and was extremely grateful to be as it was one of the most amazing and eye opening trips of my life. It completely changed my direction in life and short term goals.
Additionally, I worked on many projects including being a Research Assistant to Prof. Anu Basu and Prof. Roland Pollard, I competed in several Business Plan competitions; one of which I won 2nd place and used those funds to launch GEP. I started The Silicon Valley Connections program and was even fortunate enough to be awarded a free trip to Taiwan and China through the College of Engineering’s Global Technology Initiative scholars program; among other awards I was fortunate enough to win.
The College of Engineering selects three students from the College of Business for their GTI program. There were approximately 5,000 students in the CoB at the time. Among those, 25 applied and 3 were selected. I had a 12% chance of being selected and was extremely grateful to be as it was one of the most amazing and eye opening trips of my life. It completely changed my direction in life and short term goals.
Bryant University
Bryant University is a small, private New England college located in Rhode Island and focused mainly on business curriculum. I started in fall of 2001 and was amazed at how behind I was compared to my fellow students; I didn’t even have a personal email at the time. Some students had even started companies while at Bryant or even in high school. I became intrigued with this concept of entrepreneurship and realized this was my true calling.
My sophomore year, I started a company called phastcash.com with three fellow classmates. We recruited college students for paid clinical studies in the Rhode Island and Boston area. As a dorm room project, it was quite successful and we actually returned all of our small investment back with 9 months. It was an absolutely fantastic experience and I learned more about marketing, sales, leadership and finances in such a short period of time. It was like a crash course on a 4 year degree. This is where I really caught the entrepreneurial bug and I’ve been bit ever since.
My sophomore year, I started a company called phastcash.com with three fellow classmates. We recruited college students for paid clinical studies in the Rhode Island and Boston area. As a dorm room project, it was quite successful and we actually returned all of our small investment back with 9 months. It was an absolutely fantastic experience and I learned more about marketing, sales, leadership and finances in such a short period of time. It was like a crash course on a 4 year degree. This is where I really caught the entrepreneurial bug and I’ve been bit ever since.