1,050. Maybe it’s the year you’re learning about in your pointless art history class. Maybe it’s the amount your Trimark apartment costs you each month. Or maybe it’s the number of pages you are still have to read for your finance review.
For George Washington University student Ben Devore, 1,050 stands for the total of amount of hours it took him to bring the Gainesville-born Qwerk app to life.
Let me back up a little bit.
About 10 months ago, on a humid day in April, University of Florida student Jonathan Katz was procrastinating on studying for his exams. Instead of slaving over Financial Accounting practice problems, Jonathan found himself a little preoccupied. You see, somewhere between watching episodes of “Shark Tank” and avoiding the library, Jonathan experienced an epiphany.
After hearing endless complaints from students struggling to keep up with school and work, Jonathan was determined to find a solution that could help his fellow classmates balance both.The idea for Qwerk was born.
“I realized that students needed a way to make their life and their finances easier,” Jonathan said. “Qwerk is an app that does both.”
Put simply, the app connects students with other students. Whether you need someone to bring you coffee, you want to make money for your spring break cruise or you are trying to sell your old speakers, Qwerk is a way to make money or get errands done without changing your everyday routine.
Jonathan quickly reached out to his roommate and fellow student Alex Schepps to help develop the idea and get it off the ground. An accounting major, Alex took on the role of chief financial officer (CFO) and helped Jonathan build revenue streams and improve Qwerk’s profitability structure. As the weeks went on, they realized it was time to recruit a bigger team.
“I was looking for a student with a work ethic, a high level of creativity and someone who I’d enjoy working with,” Alex said. “So, last June I reached out to Ben Horowitz, a life long friend of mine who has work experience and a positive outlook in general.”
Ben Horowitz, a student at Washington University in St. Louis, became the chief operations officer (COO), handling business and marketing strategies and taking on every day operations for the new app.
In just two months, Jonathan’s exam week epiphany had grown into a company with C-level corporate structure. The three of them worked like a well-oiled machine, pitching new ideas, scrapping old ones and spending late nights debating everything from form to function.
In July they were finally ready to begin their search for a chief technology officer (CTO) to take their idea and make it a reality. As you can imagine, finding the perfect coder is no easy task. They needed someone who had the skills to develop the app, as well as a strong work ethic, a passion for entrepreneurship and a true dedication to Qwerk.
Remember Ben Devore from earlier? The one who spent 1,050 hours living, breathing and eating in code? Yes, that’s the one. After speaking with Alex, the coding extraordinaire jumped on board and assumed the position of CTO.
Fast forward seven months of trial and error, startup competitions (SXSW, 1776 cup and Inc. Magazine), guerilla marketing and day-and-night toil and the Qwerk team is getting ready to unveil their brainchild to the Gainesville masses.
So, keep your eye out and your phone storage free because Qwerk will hit the app store next week.
Looks like College Just Got Easy.
