UYD: Why did you start your company and what is your ultimate goal?
Tom McGrath: I started my company, because I love building things with other people. Growing up you would often find me building a treehouse in the backyard or a writing songs with my band the Koala Ninjas. Entrepreneurship was just another creative outlet where I saw an opportunity to work with a group of talented individuals to create something of value. The motivation was really no different than what motivates a singer to write a song.
The ultimate goal is to find myself in a financial situation where I am free to create and explore. I think there is a lot I can do with the right resources and flexibility.
UYD: What is your background?
TM: After taking my first stab at starting a business in high school I knew that entrepreneurship would be my ultimate career path. Knowing that, I googled “Best Schools for Entrepreneurship” and Indiana University popped up at the top of the search results. I applied, got in, and earned my degree in Entrepreneurship and Corporate Innovation. During my time there I tried to start at least 9 different businesses before I landed on Social Sweepster.
UYD: What is Social Sweepster?
TM: Social Sweepster is a tool that helps you monitor and clean up your online social presence. Whether you’re applying for college or applying for your first job, we help present yourself in a professional and consistent manner.
UYD: That’s really cool. How do you use your difference to make a difference?
TM: A lot of people have great ideas, but few are willing to act on them. I think that sometimes people lack the confidence or the ability to see the path from idea to reality and as a result never get started. When friends or strangers tell me about their ideas I try show them a very concrete path to get the ball rolling. I often ask them why they aren’t doing it and what they can do to get started. If I can do it so can anyone else. The only thing that makes me different is that I took the plunge over 6 years ago and never looked back. I use to think 20 something year old entrepreneurs were something you only saw in movies and the reality of it is that you are as smart as anyone else. You might just need some experience but in order to get experience, you have to DO SOMETHING!
