Daniel James Scott’s eyes filled with tears when Reuben Pressman was named the Rising Star at the Tampa Bay Technology Forum’s Industry Awards gala last month.
Although Scott, associate director of the USF St. Petersburg Entrepreneurship Program, was named Technology Leader of the Year, it was Pressman’s award that made him emotional.
Pressman graduated from USFSP in 2011 as the first student to complete the Entrepreneurship Program. He took Scott’s New Venture Creation class, in which each student creates a startup company. Students come up with a proposal and are responsible for researching, pitching and marketing their idea.
Pressman used the strategies he learned in Scott’s class to create a startup called Check I’m Here, which led to his Rising Star recognition, a title given to entrepreneurs under 30 who are involved in technology.
According to Pressman, Check I’m Here enables universities to track the number of students attending campus events. Using a square card reader that connects to smartphones, campus organizations are able to see how many students are present. Pressman hopes this will allow student governments to allocate funds more efficiently. Check I’m Here is working with universities around Florida, including USFSP, to get the system implemented on their campuses.
Scott believes he won the Technology Leader of the Year award for his involvement with education and empowering companies. He co-founded the Entrepreneurship Program and Entrepreneurship Club at USFSP.
“It’s all the students,” Scott said. As an entrepreneur, he realizes the success of an idea relies on market response. And at USFSP, he sees its success.
“It’s great to see how much entrepreneurship has become pervasive across campus,” Scott said.
In 2011, Scott and two other USFSP board members founded Gazelle Lab, a project that stimulates and funds startup companies. Gazelle helped Pressman find success with his company, and he also interned there.
Scott’s startup, Alorum, took an investment from the Gazelle fund. Alorum provides software to host presentations on WordPress without having to give content to an outside corporation.
In the future, Scott hopes to continue investing in students and startups. He wants to make sure students are involved in discussions about the future of entrepreneurship in St. Petersburg because they will be the ones involved in the future.
He also hopes to get a stronger “capital pipeline” that will provide funding to keep young entrepreneurs in the area. He has seen many students leave because they lacked the necessary funds and wants to see the city become more supportive of entrepreneurship.
