Meet the Student Founders of FuzeMee, Your New Fav App

Sometimes the best solutions for the challenges of college life come from those who are living them day to day: college students. That's definitely the case with FuzeMee, the college social networking app that helps incoming college freshmen and existing students make friends, find roommates, and discover on-campus events. The three founders—Jon Krouse of Wake Forest University, David Graham of Ohio State, Christopher Tsetsekos of Tufts University—developed FuzeMee with the goal of helping students tackle some of the hardest parts of the transition to college, including finding friends and figuring out how to get more involved in campus life.

The TL;DR about FuzeMee? Once you download the app, you'll create your profile, where you'll answer questions about your hometown, your major, and other interests. You'll get a personalized feed with info about your school that's relevant to you—like events and activities you might be into—and you can easily connect with anyone at your school by texting them individually or in a group chat on the app.

We chatted with cofounder Krouse to learn more about the app and get his take on college life so far. Keep reading for more about FuzeMee and see why you'll love using it throughout your college journey.

ALL ABOUT FUZEMEE

How did you meet your cofounders?

The three of us have been friends and teammates since middle school. We always loved entrepreneurship and kept new venture ideas in the notes section of our phones.

How did you come to the decision to launch an app together?

One day after practice we were talking about our different ideas, and after combining our central pain point that we were all going through at the time—which was the college transition process—we started to build the initial concept of FuzeMee. We wanted to make it easier for students to transition to college, so we started there. That branched off to meeting every day after school and during the COVID-19 pandemic to ideate on this new idea. Once we got to college, we began to see the vision for the app and add new features, like a community feed to post pictures and polls, and a marketplace. We shifted the central theme of the app to not only focus on transitioning [high school] students but also on current college students, as well.

What has the response been to the FuzeMee app so far?

So far, people have loved the app and our feature set. Since there currently is no centralized platform for college-specific micro-communities, students have had a great experience using it. They have enjoyed being able to communicate and engage with students from their school. We also noticed that the marketplace has been our best feature so far, and we are looking to build it out further so that students can have a great experience buying and selling items with others on our platform.

Any tips or tricks for using the app that you can share with our audience?

Personally, I think the best feature is the search page, because you can see everyone who goes to your school, who is signed up for FuzeMee, what their major is, what interests they have, their class year, and more. It’s a great way to know who else is in your community, and then the ability to chat with them and make connections is even more powerful.

COLLEGE LIFE

What has your college experience been like so far?

My freshman year was during Covid, so it really wasn’t a true college experience. I couldn’t interact with other students unless I was wearing a mask and I barely was allowed outside of my dorm room. After my freshman year, we all took a gap year in order to pursue the business full-time, as we just raised our first round of funding for just shy of $1 million. Therefore, I have had a unique college experience so far, but the gap year allowed my two cofounders and I to learn more than we would ever have learned in school. It was invaluable.

What has been the biggest challenge of transitioning into college life?

The biggest challenge when I was a freshman transitioning to college life was the amount of free time. Since college classes are not scheduled the same way as in high school, you have a lot more free time on your hands. Therefore, you have to plan ahead in order to spend that time well. Whenever I got free time, I would work on FuzeMee, do my school work, or work out.

Do you have roommates? If so, what has that adjustment process been like for you?

During my freshman year, we were able to pick our roommates since it was Covid. I actually knew my roommate beforehand, as we went to the same high school and were best friends. So for me, the roommate situation was not difficult, but hearing from most of my friends, they had a tough time as they were paired with random roommates.

What advice do you have for incoming freshmen?

Some pieces of advice I have for incoming freshmen:

• Try new things, whether that be clubs, trying out for a sports team, or taking a class that you never previously thought about
• Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to other freshmen as they are all looking to meet other people, as well
• Try to get a great GPA in the first semester so that you have a good starting point you can lean on in future semesters

What would you do differently about college move-in, if you could?

My college dorm room was pretty bland. I think I had one poster from my high school in my room, so I would’ve put more effort into not making it look like a jail cell. I think good-looking rooms give positive vibes that can help ease mental angst from the chaotic nature of college.

Anything you’d change about your freshman year experience, if you could go back in time?

If I was able to prevent the Covid pandemic from happening, then that would be it. But other than that, I wouldn’t have changed anything, as I made the best that I could with the situation and made some great friends.

What campus activities are you involved in?

I am involved in the entrepreneurship society, the finance club, and the deacon case competition club for financing modeling, and I'm looking to play on some of the club sports teams. Getting involved in campus activities, I believe, is very important in a college experience.

RAPID FIRE Q'S

Best late-night snack?

Boneless buffalo wings.

Best study tip?

Plan your days ahead of time and make sure to be regimented so you can schedule when you want to study and for how long. It takes the stress out of the whole process.

Hardest class so far?

It probably would be accounting, as it’s known as the hardest class at Wake.

Favorite way to relax & recharge?

Playing pickup basketball with my friends or watching a movie.

Favorite way to spend your weekends at college?

Going to a tailgate and then seeing Wake win.

Ready to try the FuzeMee app for yourself? Download it here!