Temple University junior Dan Biundo admits he and his seven classmates had no idea what they were doing when their experiential entrepreneurship course assigned them with the task of creating a production company and series of films examining local entrepreneurs.
Like many startups, there were heated arguments among group members. Biundo, a Trevose native who served as chief operating officer of Sink or Swim Productions, recalls a time the group had to get one of its members motivated.
“That was one of our breakdowns, and after a major argument, that's when things started coming together,” Biundo says.
Sink or Swim, the students' startup, held a launch party on Friday at the ShootersINC facility at 6th and Walnut for Ready Set Go, a series of short films that tell the stories of a dozen entrepreneurs, including Victory Brewing co-founder Bill Covaleski, Saxbys CEO Nick Bayer, Westinghouse Lighting chairman Stan Angelo, and Philabundance founder Pamela Rainey Lawler, to name a few.
Biundo says running the production company — with plenty of help from ShootersINC, the regional film, video and post-production outfit — was an incredible learning experience, and the featured entrepreneurs also provided some valuable lessons.
“One thing many of them said was to be resilient and never give up,” Biundo says.
Biundo hopes to launch his first solo business, RentTempleU, by February. The website will list properties and relevant information that will provide students with valuable, authentic rental information in an area where such tidbits can make or break a semester (or college career). He is wrapping up acquiring his real estate license and will look to engage real estate brokers, with the goal of expanding to other schools a real possibility (he has purchased domains for six other colleges).
“I lived off-campus freshman year and lived in the wrong area,” says Biundo. “I want to inform renters what areas they're in and what precautions they shoul take.”
JOE PETRUCCI is managing editor of Keystone Edge. Send feedback here.