Before graduating from Boston University in 2009, Dave Bisceglia and Ralph Shao set plans take on the new wave in gaming technology with a startup.
“Both of us were gamers growing up, and we saw that there was a void in the market for real-world games,” Bisceglia said.
The School of Management alumni founded the Tap Lab, a social gaming company designed to keep up with the fast-paced mobile lifestyle of the present day, according to its website. While they continue to develop their collection of games, Bisceglia and Shao have also begun focusing on recruiting SMG students as interns and team members.
“We definitely look for BU grads,” Bisceglia said. “We loved BU and everyone has been so helpful to us, from former professors and mentors to Dean Elmore, who gave us free hockey tickets to give away.”
The team released TapCity, the first gaming application, in 2009, according to the website.
Bisceglia and Shao went through two startup accelerator companies, which provided funding, office space and other resources to budding entrepreneurs.
The project took three weeks to develop, Bisceglia said. He went around BU’s campus to get students to sign up, while Shao coded the game.
Bisceglia called it a location-based game similar to Foursquare, which integrates real-world experiences.
“Players have to defend their favorite hang-outs, as opposed to just checking in somewhere,” Bisceglia said. Within the first few weeks of the games launch, “Kenmore Square turned into a war zone.”
The alumni said they continue to seek new employees as they work to launch a new game.
Bisceglia, one of the BU Entrepreneurs Club’s founders, and Shao told members about their plans when they were still students.
Caitlyn Pearson, a freshman in the SMG, said she was pleased to hear that BU alumni look forward to working with current BU students in the job market.
“BU always talks about the extensive alumni network, but it is great to hear that it actually exists and is thriving,” Pearson said. “I think SMG provides its students with a lot of opportunities to interact with representatives from different companies during events they host at SMG.”
Max Veggeberg, president of the Entrepreneurship Club, said SMG would only get students so far in the job market.
“Past presidents [of the Entrepreneurship Club] have reached out to me,” Veggeberg. “If they know who you are then absolutely [they help with jobs].”
Veggeberg said entrepreneurial jobs are vastly underrepresented. He started a group that contacts CEOs and asks what positions they are looking to fill, and is working to offer some positions offered exclusively to BU students.
“Start networking and shoot for the stars,” Bisceglia said. “I know as a student, I thought I couldn’t talk to these big-shot type guys. However, they were once in the same position and they would be more than happy to talk with students.”
Catherine Curran, a sophomore, said being in SMG is all about networking and establishing strong connections.
“Even though we are just being introduced to the business world, we base our projects on real-life scenarios and get a lot of diversity in ideas and opinions,” Curran said. “With clubs like the Entrepreneur’s Club, we can get more experience outside the classroom.”
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