When Danny Meltser, finance junior and co-founder of the new app Bringitt, was asked how he has enjoyed running a start-up business with his best friend, fraternity brother and co-founder marketing junior Jarett Lazare, Meltser jokingly replied, “Oh, I hate it” while the pair shared a laugh.
Meltser and Lazare have been friends since seventh grade, and this past January they released an app they describe as “a cross between Uber and UPS."
Their free application Bringitt allows a student to pay a flat rate of $15 to request a driver to pick up an item from their home in their hometown and deliver it to them in East Lansing.
Users who are visiting home for the weekend are able to volunteer to be a driver and deliver items to students when they get back to campus while making $10 in the process.
“We really provide value to parents,” Lazare said.
Alongside Bringitt's student target market, the app also hopes to appeal to busy parents who don’t have time to drive to campus and deliver something to their child.
This opens up the possibility of parents delivering home-cooked meals, groceries, laundry, and more to their children while they’re at school, Lazare said.
If theft is a concern, Meltser and Lazare have taken thorough measures to ensure drivers don't consider it.
Bringitt drivers are required to provide information, like credit card numbers, insurance information and license numbers to guarantee theft doesn’t occur.
Meltser's and Lazare's backgrounds in sales have helped the pair execute the project, and they’ve also found benefits in working together.
When one of them is having a bad day, the other will pick up the slack for his colleague up and keep the project moving forward, Lazare said.
“Being an entrepreneur is a rollercoaster, an emotional rollercoaster, and having your best friend alongside with you helps you keep going to the top,” Lazare said.
The job also comes with its share of difficulties.
Being a full-time student while working 50-60 hours a week puts a lot of stress on the pair.
“It comes to a point that we really learn the meaning of sacrifice and the fact that some kids in college don’t have that much going on or they have a lot of free time," Lazare said. ''We made the decision that busy people are happy people and we want to be happy people. In order to do that we are busy 24/7.''
They also had to work hard to find the funds to execute the project.
MSU has assisted in the project through grant money. The grant money has gone to legal entity, marketing and promotion campaigns, insurance coverage and other operational needs, Meltser said.
Family and friends have also invested in the company. But Meltser said he and Lazare are always searching for more potential funding.
The two recently found out they made it into the top 12 for the Baylor New Venture Competition, one of the largest pitch competitions in the country.
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At the competition, which takes place Feb. 25-27, the two friends will present and pitch their app to influential venture capitalists from across the country in hope of winning a portion of the prizes available at the competition.
The team which comes in first place will be granted $50,000.
The two owners and creators of Bringitt said they will continue to prepare for the competition with assistance from a mentor and from their friend Samuel Noss, advertising senior and head of public relations for the company.
Meltser and Lazare plan to continue promoting their app, creating an Android model, and helping their new company grow.
