Draper Heroes Fall 2017: Alec Maher and Christopher Oosthuisen
Welcome to our new blog series, About the Heroes. We’ll be taking weekly looks at the talented student entrepreneurs that have been selected to join the ASU-Draper Accelerator based in San Francisco. The Draper program is the first program of its kind where hand-selected students are invited to join other entrepreneurs from around the globe to live in Silicon Valley and take on a rigorous curriculum that teaches the skills every startup leader needs. Skills such as finance, computer aided design, coding, growth strategy, pitching, networking, venture capital, and much more. Top speakers from companies like Tesla, Instagram, Hubspot, 500 Startups, Zappos,and Box augment the program with real-world advice and stories from the early days of the world’s industry leaders.
For this post, let’s meet Alec Maher and Christopher Oosthuisen.
Roommates turned business partners, both Chris and Alec grew up in entrepreneurial households with parents that had thriving businesses throughout their youth. Both have experience in starting small businesses and are interested in learning the aspects of growth and scaling companies from small to global. They are currently working on growing a business called CityCup that allows regular customers of local Tempe eateries to enjoy discounted drinks by purchasing a branded, re-usable cup but are also open to starting new ventures within the program. To learn more about CityCup visit their website.
When asked about their expectations for the program, each said they couldn’t be more excited to be living and working in the one-of-a-kind environment that Silicon Valley has to offer, as well as the opportunity to diversify their skill sets and grow their networks. The Draper program certainly provides that, and much more.
Alec and Chris are also the recipients of the Hool Draper Entrepreneurship Scholarship. Michael Hool from Hool Coury Law has been a great supporter of the startup community and the ASU entrepreneurship scene. Working with Draper University he is offering 8 student half scholarships for the program valued at over $7,000 each. “Training the future leaders and investing in their success is something critical to our mission as a law firm and community partner”, said Michael Hool. To learn more about Hool Coury and their support of the entrepreneurship community visit their website.
The ASU-Draper Silicon Valley Program 2017 cohort will include the top 40 candidates from an applicant pool of over 300. We will be featuring the other entrepreneurs weekly. During the Fall 2016 session 6 ASU students were selected to join a class of 40 entrepreneurs from 13 different countries.
To learn more about the ASU Draper Silicon Valley Program or to apply for a spot visit ASUHeroes.com
Written by Jared Korinko
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Roommates turned business partners, both Chris and Alec grew up in entrepreneurial households with parents that had thriving businesses throughout their youth. Both have experience in starting small businesses and are interested in learning the aspects of growth and scaling companies from small to global. They are currently working on growing a business called CityCup that allows regular customers of local Tempe eateries to enjoy discounted drinks by purchasing a branded, re-usable cup but are also open to starting new ventures within the program. To learn more about CityCup visit their website.
When asked about their expectations for the program, each said they couldn’t be more excited to be living and working in the one-of-a-kind environment that Silicon Valley has to offer, as well as the opportunity to diversify their skill sets and grow their networks. The Draper program certainly provides that, and much more.
Alec and Chris are also the recipients of the Hool Draper Entrepreneurship Scholarship. Michael Hool from Hool Coury Law has been a great supporter of the startup community and the ASU entrepreneurship scene. Working with Draper University he is offering 8 student half scholarships for the program valued at over $7,000 each. “Training the future leaders and investing in their success is something critical to our mission as a law firm and community partner”, said Michael Hool. To learn more about Hool Coury and their support of the entrepreneurship community visit their website.
The ASU-Draper Silicon Valley Program 2017 cohort will include the top 40 candidates from an applicant pool of over 300. We will be featuring the other entrepreneurs weekly. During the Fall 2016 session 6 ASU students were selected to join a class of 40 entrepreneurs from 13 different countries.
To learn more about the ASU Draper Silicon Valley Program or to apply for a spot visit ASUHeroes.com
Written by Jared Korinko 
