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Bounce: Andrew Thompson founded Bounce to solve a problem. A senior at the time attending UC Merced, Thompson realized how hard it was for students to get around the city, especially if they didn’t have a car. This led to the creation of Bounce, a ridesharing service that allowed students to connect with other student drivers. Users in need of local transportation bought tokens from the Bounce website and could redeem those credits in exchange for a ride to a given destination. Where Tin-Bin’s business strategy was laid-back and relaxed, Bounce took a more traditional approach. Thompson and his team created an 11-page business plan, and sought mentorship from UCM Professors S.A. Davis and Mark Harris. Despite all the planning and preparation done to ensure a smooth launch, new ridesharing laws have forced Bounce to change its business model. The service will now transition to a free forum based website where students can post ride wanted ads. Users will conduct their own transactions and Bounce will no longer charge a fee or provide drivers directly thereby reliving them of liabilities and other legal hurdles that made their old structure no longer viable. Bounce’s refreshed service will be operational in the coming months, but the company’s commitment to student service already makes it a success.
To find out more about Bounce visit http://gobounce.it or www.facebook.com/bounceridesharing.
FlexScore:
Check out how you rank financially with people in your age group at www.flexscore.com.
People don’t usually associate finances with fun, but CSU Stanislaus graduate Jason Gordo wants to change that. Gordo and business partner Jeff Burrow and the founders of FlexScore, a social software platform designed a program to make managing your money as painless as possible. “We wanted to make it for the average normal person across the country,” said Gordo while describing FlexScore at the Finovate finance technology conference. After creating a FlexScore account, users fill out basic financial information, and FlexScore generates a score between 1- 1,000, the higher your score the better. Your score is meant to serve as a starting point and allows people to not only understand their financial situation, but what steps they can take to improve it. People can also see how their score ranks compared to others of similar age and location as well as income bracket. The system lets users “compete” for the highest score and social tools such as peer ranking and a point system based on individual milestones or “action steps.” This keeps everyone motivated to achieve financial success. FlexScore is still in beta, but if you’re interested in an easier way to keep tabs on your finances you can create a FlexScore account right now for free. Starting a business can be challenging and success is never a guarantee, but if you have an idea that you’re truly passionate about there’s no reason to wait. Even if your first attempt at a start-up isn’t successful, learning what it takes to run a business is just as important. What better way to do it than being the boss? #collegelife