University students trying to get rid of their old books, electronics or any other odds and ends for the new year might be hard-pressed to find a willing buyer nearby.
Eli Alford-Jones wants to help.
Alford-Jones, a University junior, recently founded Campus Vortex, which serves as an online marketplace for University students who would like to buy or sell random items, post roommate ads or offer their business services to another student.
Campus Vortex, first launched in its earliest stage at www.campusvortex.com on Nov. 16, also provides 15 “location tags” that show the area from which each item is being offered.
“It’s kind of like how Craigslist works, but one advantage is that you can find someone that’s close to you,” Alford-Jones said.
Though Alford-Jones has brought in little revenue from the experiment so far, he said, the site currently offers approximately 80 posted items and has received nearly 17,000 hits.
“I’m just trying to get it moving here, get some momentum, and then take the concept and expand it as fast as possible,” he said.
To help bear part of the burden of the operation, Alford-Jones has teamed with fellow University student and high-school friend Colin Jensen since winter break.
“It was all his idea, but I’m basically coming on board to help with the business stuff,” Jensen said. “For me, it’s just a way that I can learn a lot more.”
Alford-Jones is taking a much more serious approach to the project, deciding not to enroll in classes this term to devote himself more fully to Campus Vortex. He said the risk of temporarily dropping out of school was one worth taking, though the concern of failure is a valid one.
“That’s what makes it exciting, but ultimately you have to roll the dice to get anywhere worth being,” Alford-Jones said.
Alford-Jones said the site was designed by StormLab, a software development firm based in Boulder, Colo., but that Campus Vortex would soon switch developers because the previous organization was bought out be a larger company last week.
Business Professor Alan Meyer, who taught Jensen in his Launching New Ventures class last term, said he was somewhat skeptical of the idea at first because of existing outlets that already offer many of the same services. The idea has since grown on him, he said, and it has potential to be successful with its localized emphasis.
Alford-Jones and Jensen will have to act fast to maximize its appeal as a new option, he said.
“There’s some tipping point there where this becomes the go-to place,” Meyer said. “I think the key thing is speed. They have a window of time to get enough buzz and reach that tipping point.”
Alford-Jones said there have been several challenges in getting the company off the ground, but both he and Jensen are taking some prior business experience into their latest venture.
Jensen said he had experience running a landscaping business, and Alford-Jones said he helped a friend who founded a chocolate company out of Portland two years ago.
“I learned a lot from that,” Alford-Jones said. “I think I learned a lot about being realistic with your goals. It’s easy to think, ‘Oh, I have this great idea. I’m going to go make a million dollars.’”
Alford-Jones said the biggest challenge remains promoting Campus Vortex to the public. He and Jensen have scheduled an information session about the company to be held this Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in 212 Lillis, and an “official” group on Facebook devoted to Campus Vortex currently has more than 600 members.
Campus Vortex is currently available only at the University of Oregon, but there are plans to expand and open the site to Oregon State University and Seattle University as soon as this month.
Jensen plans to help operate Campus Vortex through the end of this year, after which he will take an executive manager position at Target. If it is successful enough, Alford-Jones said he plans to pursue the venture as a long-term investment.
“It’s exciting, and it’s kind of scary sometimes,” he said. “You just have to have faith idea and the ability to follow through with it.”
Contact the business, science and technology reporter at [email protected]
Student’s new site jumps in vortex of online marketplaces
Daily Emerald
January 16, 2007
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