Spartans begin social networking site to aide in organization

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When MSU alumnus Roman Stotland began attending college, he told himself he would have his own Facebook, YouTube or social media site by the time he graduated.

“If these guys can do it, I’m not any dumber than they are,” Stotland said. “There are certain niches in the social media networks that have not been filled yet.”

A few months after his graduating in 2009, Stotland’s dream came true.

Stotland, communication and economics senior Ajay Arumugam and MSU alumnus Justin Rappaport met as student employees at MSU’s College of Education. But since July 2009, they have been business founders of SocialTab Inc., a company that will offer products and services related to social media and public relations.

The company’s two leading projects are SocialTab — a website that will allow the user to sign into multiple social media sites in one window — and Stuforest.

Arumugam said StuForest will have class and professor evaluations as well as chat capabilities, but said it will be more in-depth and include students from a variety of universities, not just MSU.

“Even though we all had our own jobs, we wanted the freedom to do our own things,” Arumugam said.

“It got to the point where we were using all of these networks. We just wanted to create products to help out people.”

The three still work at their day jobs, but are looking for funding and interested investors, especially if Stuforest launches by next January as planned.

Rappaport said SocialTab is on hold and their energy is being poured into developing Stuforest because of their market research.

“This was a product and service that we think will grow extremely rapidly,” Rappaport said. “It’s got a lot of potential.”
Since the SocialTab idea came from the trio sitting together and discussing the tedium of having to sign into multiple sites, Stuforest similarly came from a wish for a nonexistent product.

“There seems to be — all over the Internet and social media — tools that people use, but they’re segregated,” Rappaport said. “Our goal is to bring those together for specific universities and colleges.”

All three said they have been fascinated by technology for as long as they can remember.

Rappaport said he has been doing computer programming since he was nine years old.

“It’s fun, it keeps me going,” he said. “With programming, you can always build something new and get satisfaction out of watching it flourish.”

Being coworkers and friends prior to the business has led to dynamics that require respect for each person’s opinions, while still recognizing where the boundaries are, Stotland said.

“You have to realize there’s life outside the company and life that is the company,” Stotland said. “You always have to keep them separate, and it’s been pretty good so far.”

Because all three worked at the College of Education at some point during their undergraduate years, they were supervised by Dave Dai, an MSU information technologist, who advised them to apply what they learned both in class as well as on the job, Rappaport said.

“(Dai) was sort of our mentor and liaison as we were going through school and teaching us about the university culture and practices,” Rappaport said.

Dai was unaware of his previous employees’ business venture, but said it does not surprise him.

“They are always trying new things, and they are technically prepared for this kind of work,” Dai said. “Through working for MSU and their coursework, they probably realize that social media and social networking is the future direction.”

Dai said although a majority of company startups will not be successful, success holds different meanings to different individuals.

“If they cannot get the company going, but they learned a lot from the experience, that’s successful,” he said. “No matter what — as long as they’re trying, they’re already successful.”

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