Kevin Wang and Eric Vennaro met as students at Case Western Reserve University, became friends when they joined the same fraternity, and embarked on a professional journey when they decided to found Mango.
Mango is a digital advertising platform to help colleges recruit international students. Wang and Vennaro are leveraging their strengths and passions to change the way universities market to potential international students.
What attracted you to the Flashstarts accelerator?
There’s so much that Flashstarts offers us. There’s no way we would have made the progress we have made in the last two months without the guidance of Charles and Jen, and the help of all the interns that Flashstarts employs. You won’t see a startup accelerator like this anywhere else in the country.
Tell us about your company.
Our idea has been through many iterations; however, at its core, it fills a fundamental gap between high international student recruitment costs and low college student enrollment.
Basically, Mango sells international social media advertisements to colleges. We come up with marketing strategies to help colleges attract the best students from all over the world. Everything is automated and creative.
We’re doing this because it’s a worthy cause to get behind, and at the same time, we have the knowhow and connections to do it.
What has been the biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge is getting meetings with colleges quickly– colleges are gigantic organizations that move at their own pace. Get us in the door and we’ll show you why we do what we do.
Tell us about working and living in Cleveland.
The story of Cleveland is very much like a fairy tale. We were once great; our economy was thriving, but we failed to transition from an industrial city to a technological one. Its changing now though…slowly. And that’s okay. Don’t give up, Clevelanders! This our home. Fight for it.
How do you like working with interns?
The interns are awesome. We wouldn’t be where we are without them, period.
What is some advice for future interns?
Don’t be afraid to speak your mind. Argue with the entrepreneurs. Tell them they are wrong. Tell them they need to do this or that differently. Call them lazy. I think entrepreneurs, fundamentally, are very competitive people. So if you bruise their egos a little bit, they will do anything in their power to prove you wrong. Think of yourselves more as consultants rather than interns. It’s a cool mind-set.
What surprised you about your experience at Flashstarts?
The community here is simply amazing. Charles and Jen have managed to build a community of builders, hackers, hipsters, and mentors. These people care. They all want to help each other. It’s not a rivalry, but a family.
What are some things you’ve learned this summer, so far?
We’ve learned so much about international recruiting. We’ve learned about advertisements and how to effectively create “call to action” graphics. We’re more emotionally intelligent and we’ve become better listeners. There’s so much that we have yet to learn. We’re humbled in this process. Team Mango all the way!
Learn more about Mango by visiting their website.
