By Miriam Brown ’21
While many Colorado College students dream about starting businesses after they graduate, three CC sophomores have decided there is no reason to wait.
They have all launched start-ups in their free time.
Milan Kordestani ’21 and NYU student Sabine Rizvi initially thought of the idea for Dormzi, a task-oriented app designed to make college life more manageable, about a year ago. They began working on it the same day they came up with the idea, starting with securing the domain name and social media handles. Since then they have worked with a designer and coder, and they are currently testing the app on NYU’s campus to fine tune the product before it makes its app store debut — all while juggling school work and responsibilities.
“Being on the Block Plan makes it incredibly easy to balance both work and school,” Kordestani says. “After class I grab lunch quickly, then I spend the next several hours of the day tending to emails, phone calls, and all other Dormzi-related tasks that need to be taken care of.”
Lauren Weiss ’21 has an app of her own on the app store, but that’s where the similarities to Kordestani’s company end. Weiss’s app LifExpectancy uses data like the user’s body mass index number, exercise habits, and sleep schedule to calculate a realistic life expectancy, as well as to provide health-related suggestions on how to add years to it. Though the app is already available to the public, Weiss says she’s constantly thinking of ways to improve it.
“I am a computer science major, so it’s great that I am able to learn more and more in class about things that I can add to the app,” Weiss says.
The student successes aren’t just limited to apps. When Turner Black ’21 couldn’t find any feminist patches to her liking for her jacket, she started creating her own. Today, her patches are the basis for her startup company called Patches for Peace, which donates a portion of the sales to organizations like Planned Parenthood and Annie’s List, an organization which supports progressive women seeking elected office in Texas. To account for the nature of the Block Plan, Black prepares for future orders whenever she has a break from schoolwork, then fills and mails out orders at least once a day.
“This has been such a great way to give back while getting my designs and messages out into the world,” Black says
