Mike Meyers, a USC graduate, started working on his entrepreneurial efforts in September 2013 when he came up with the idea for a university-based marketplace where students could buy, sell and trade goods without the hassle of ever leaving USC’s campus.
“Like many college students, we all have been tight for spending money,” Meyers said about the application’s origins. Meyers himself was trying to sell backpacks to pay his way through college expenses just a year ago. That was the spark that lit the idea of Tradeversity.
Along with two others, Meyers and his friends imagined an exchange where students could buy the things they needed from the people they could trust: their fellow students and university faculty.
Fast forward one year and Meyers is now the co-founder and CEO of Tradeversity, a marketplace where students can buy and sell supplies, textbooks and countless other items through an online application.
By signing up for Tradeversity, students are offered an alternative option to purchasing things from eBay, Craigslist or even sifting through the elusive USC Facebook pages. It offers a variety of products on its online marketplace, whether students are looking for subleases, textbooks or iPods.
“We wanted to build a marketplace that was exclusive, so you’re only dealing with students and faculty. Students at USC want to deal with students at USC,” Meyers said. “We wanted something that creates a difference in the university environment.”
Only students and faculty with a university-associated email address are allowed access to the site. Because of this local, university-centered nature of the application, students need not worry about shipping costs when buying off of Tradeversity.
“It’s a student company for students by students, we’re not building it to make money off users,” Meyers said. “The whole point is trying to build something that students will use and appreciate.”
The Tradeversity team won the Proving Ground Entrepreneurial challenge at USC in 2014. They received $20,000 from the experience and have been using the money to fund the further development of their company.
As a successful USC entrepreneur, Meyers had some advice to give to those at USC who share a similar dream.
“There’s always people that tell you you can’t do something. I can’t tell you how many people have told us you can't do this, it’s a dumb idea,” said Meyers. “You have to trust yourself to be able to act. You have to put a good team in place.”
And a good team is exactly what Meyers has created. Working with seven USC students as company interns, he is sharing his passion for his entrepreneurial ventures with his Tradeversity team.
“We built an internship program that gives students real experience,” he said. “It’s something they can really learn from and that’s valuable.”
So far the application has only launched at USC, but Meyers said the support from the Gamecock community has been astounding.
“We had over 1600 students on the site in December. We’ve had testimonials pour in. Students are telling us they love it,” he said. “I get excited about seeing something that we created because people love using it and they’re excited about it.”
Meyers knows his roots are here at the university, where the company was first started, but he is looking to see his entrepreneurial efforts go nation-wide.
“We have plans to expand up and down the east coast as well as schools on the west coast. It’s more of a national expansion,” he said. “Tradeversity is building a community. We’re looking to be the college community. This should be a place where you can connect with people in your community and get what you need to.”