Previously called Launchange, FailUp builds supportive communities in social entrepreneurship at universities across the country so they can produce better businesses.
The platform has launched at Tulane and will expand to other universities in the future. FailUp already has over 100 users and more than 25 ideas on the platform.
Founder Ethan Levy came up with the idea freshman year of college after recognizing that student entrepreneurs needed more support.
“This need was my need,” explains Levy. “And I wanted to build a product that would solve my own problem. According to conversations with my like-minded peers, they also faced the same problem. They had ideas, but didn’t know what to do with them, how to grow them, and how to build a team around them. They, and I, needed a more extensive support network.”
Levy participated in the business hackathon for students, 3 Day Startup, in 2014, which led his team to make a big change in branding and messaging. They first asked students to change the world, now all they ask if for students to fail.
“Failure is inevitable. Why hide from it?” asks Levy. “You either fail now or you fail later. Failing now tends to be the better plan because the consequences of failing earlier are much lower than the consequences of failing later.”
Levy says it’s also important to face failure so you become less afraid of it, enabling yourself to do and learn more.
After 3 Day Startup, FailUp won $5,000 from Tulane in the NewDay challenge and then built the platform through a company called SotoLabs, which Levy has been extremely satisfied working with.
Users can search for startup ideas and search for collaborators based on different criteria. You can post your ideas, upvote your favorite ideas, follow ideas, comment on ideas, and most importantly request collaborations with ideas and people.
“FailUp was built by Tulane students, for Tulane students, but we hope that this will grow into something much bigger,” says Levy. The FailUp team has seven Tulane students and one Loyola student and is currently looking for a technical co-founder, design support, and more volunteers.