Meet Tina Snyder, Owner of CampusWall!
1. What’s it called and where is it based
CampusWall — Seattle, Washington
2. What does your company do?
CampusWall is a website offering colleges and universities a campus-specific online marketplace for students/faculty/administrators to buy, sell, swap and share goods and services.
3. How does your company help college students?
Students have access to a virtual bulletin board that promotes community sharing and sustainability. Affordability and safety in procuring goods and services from peers is another benefit.
4. What was the biggest challenge you had while starting the biz?
Getting the word out.
5. Why did you start it? Where did the idea come from?
CampusWall launched in April, 2012. As a parent of two college students, I saw that my daughters seemed limited to Craigslist or Want Ads to get secondhand, college-specific goods. Also, they were resorting to the “old school” bulletin boards in the hall to find a ride-share home for holiday break. And I was stunned at the amount of perfectly good items (mini-fridges included!) abandoned in dorm hallways on move-out day. I was reminded of a marketplace a previous employer offered solely to the company’s employees, and I saw how a similar self-contained service would be beneficial to students.
6. Where do you see the company in the next 5 years?
I see CampusWall gaining momentum and being adopted by a great number of higher education institutions across the United States.
7. What keeps you going when times are tough?
It is very rewarding promoting something that I believe in as both a parent and an entrepreneur.
8. What would you recommend to another entrepreneur looking to start a college business?
Do your research by talking not only to students, but parents and school administrators as well. Also, visit a variety of colleges in person to get a feeling for campus culture.
9. What’s the best thing about your company?
I am most pleased that CampusWall promotes “collaborative consumption”—the idea of sharing and exchanging in a peer-to-peer marketplace.
10. Who’s your entrepreneurial role model?
That’s tough because I really admire anyone who has a vision and assumes the risk and perseverance to pursue something they believe in. It may sound hokey, but I’ve been inspired by some of the people I’ve seen on “Shark Tank” who endure not only financial risk, but the potential for public nationwide humiliation in the pursuit of a dream!
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