Babson + the MassChallenge
Gunner, the PawUp mascot and Cait, CEO and founder
In January I applied to be a part of the accelerator program at Babson, and was accepted! Since I live in Boston, the easiest location for me was the space that Babson has at the MassChallenge, in the innovation district in Boston. I have been spending a ton of time in the office and wanted to share a little bit about my experience there.
First, a bit about me. My name is Cait and I’m an evening student at Babson, a little more than half way through my MBA. I work full time as a senior product manager at NameMedia, and have a blog about my life as a female product manager (The PM in Heels). I am also starting a business called PawUp, which is a social network for pets and their owners. I’ve included a few photos here so you can see the PawUp mascot Gunner (he’d love you to follow him on Twitter @GunnerSully), and me hanging out!
I use the space at the MassChallenge as a home base to get work done and meet with the various people I have working on the site. It has been an absolutely amazing and overwhelming few months for PawUp! In less than 2 months, we have more than 1100 followers on Twitter, and over 10 thousand likes on Facebook (we could always use a few more, so please visit us)! I’ve also just submitted my application to participate in the 2013 MassChallenge!
PawUp’s sign at the MassChallenge in the innovation district
Since I can only go to the space on nights and weekends when I don’t have class or work, my time at the MassChallenge has been limited. I use the space to meet with my designer and developer, and have been recently using it while I’ve gotten my applications together for the BETA Challenge and the MassChallenge. I’ve met some really great people, including one of the teams that won last year (ZoomTilt). It has been so inspiring to see and hear from other companies starting out and working toward being successful. As a female entrepreneur, it has been encouraging to see some of the successful females that have made it through the MassChallenge (for example, HerCampus.com). The network of companies, entrepreneurs at the MassChallenge is astonishing, and I’m so lucky to be a part of it.
PawUp is planning for the first release on April 1st, so the spring is going to be quite busy! Please visit us and sign up for email updates at PawUp.com, or email me at cait@pawup.com. I’d love to hear from you and answer any questions you have about the space. Stay tuned for more from PawUp!