Small businesses launch, reap big rewards in experience and money
Entrepreneurs apply studies to real world decisions and work
By Sol Tran
Issue date: 5/21/09 Section: Scene
Originally published: 5/21/09 at 3:07 PM PSTLast update: 5/21/09 at 3:05 PM PST
Twenty-five students huddle in a room in Lucas Hall excitedly talking among each other. The gathering looks like any normal class. But a closer examination of the conversation reveals that they are working on developing the web site SCULife.com, an online community for Santa Clara students. It is one of several student businesses that have been launched from Santa Clara this year.
Currently, SCULife.com receives nearly 300 visitors per week. It works to help students sell textbooks, provide a place to discuss campus issues and rate top athletes among a myriad of other features.
The developers are all Santa Clara students who have put in hours of their time perfecting all aspects of the Web site: marketing it, protecting it from hackers and much more.
Freshman Tiffany Liou, vice president of operations at Campus Kiwi, the organization that oversees SCULife.com, feels empowered within the student group and is excited to be in the midst of such an innovative environment.
"The culture we have here is incredible" said Liou. "Being in an organization like this, I feel like my voice matters. It is exciting to be doing this as a freshman."
In fact, most of the students in Campus Kiwi are either freshmen or sophomores. They are anchored, however, by CEO Conrad Egusa and four other seniors who bring a lot of experience to the table as a result of their seasoned job prowess.
Freshman Dennis Ding, vice president of finance at Campus Kiwi, says that being in the Silicon Valley provides access to a wealth of advice and expertise to him as a student.
"There is the faculty who are so helpful," said Ding. "They have a lot of experiences and can offer you a lot of insight. If you want someone for advice, being at Santa Clara, you can get it from a professor or travel around the area to find the person to help."
Junior Joel Ching, founder of the student-launched business Kumu Connect, has also found the same to be true when it came to the beneficial Santa Clara community.
Currently, SCULife.com receives nearly 300 visitors per week. It works to help students sell textbooks, provide a place to discuss campus issues and rate top athletes among a myriad of other features.
The developers are all Santa Clara students who have put in hours of their time perfecting all aspects of the Web site: marketing it, protecting it from hackers and much more.
Freshman Tiffany Liou, vice president of operations at Campus Kiwi, the organization that oversees SCULife.com, feels empowered within the student group and is excited to be in the midst of such an innovative environment.
"The culture we have here is incredible" said Liou. "Being in an organization like this, I feel like my voice matters. It is exciting to be doing this as a freshman."
In fact, most of the students in Campus Kiwi are either freshmen or sophomores. They are anchored, however, by CEO Conrad Egusa and four other seniors who bring a lot of experience to the table as a result of their seasoned job prowess.
Freshman Dennis Ding, vice president of finance at Campus Kiwi, says that being in the Silicon Valley provides access to a wealth of advice and expertise to him as a student.
"There is the faculty who are so helpful," said Ding. "They have a lot of experiences and can offer you a lot of insight. If you want someone for advice, being at Santa Clara, you can get it from a professor or travel around the area to find the person to help."
Junior Joel Ching, founder of the student-launched business Kumu Connect, has also found the same to be true when it came to the beneficial Santa Clara community.
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