Notes from the founders

Everything you want to know about College Crew, straight from the founders.

The company, the people behind it, how it actually works, and what comes next. No corporate filler, just the real story, written by the four of us.

Gianna, Zach, Ari and Max

Why we built it

A good name should travel with you.

College Crew started with a simple frustration: every college student lands in a new town and has to prove themselves from scratch, while families right down the street can never find help they actually trust.

We were those students. So we built the thing we wished existed: a place where a verified student can build a reputation through completed work, and neighbors can book help from someone nearby.

No anonymous listings. No unverified providers. Just students, verified and nearby, doing the work they already do best.

Hometown, meet campus

Two places. One reputation.

Every one of us grew up mowing lawns, walking dogs, and helping neighbors, then went off to school and watched that hard-earned trust reset to zero. College Crew gives students one verified place to build from every completed job.

One profile, one reputation
Students nearby, school included
Every student ID and school verified
Reviews build over time

Meet the crew

The four founders behind College Crew.

Co-founder

Ari

Highland Park, Illinois

University of Iowa, sophomore studying Computer Science and Computer Engineering

I grew up in Highland Park, where a good reputation with your neighbors genuinely counts for something. Now I'm at the University of Iowa studying Computer Science and Computer Engineering, and I kept noticing how fast that hometown trust disappears in a new city. I created College Crew because I value those local connections and want to protect them. My goal is to make it simple for students to market their skills to the families right around them.

Co-founder

Gianna

Cleveland, Ohio

DePaul University, senior studying Business Management with a minor in PR and Advertising

I've been working since I was 13 and have always had some kind of side gig, and I always wished I'd had a platform to promote it on. As a Business Management major at DePaul with a minor in PR and Advertising, I know how hard it is for college kids to meet new families in a new city. I started College Crew to change that. I want to help students like me who rely on side gigs to make it through college. Everyone deserves an easy way to turn their skills into real, steady income close to campus.

Co-founder

Max Lapidus

Nashville, Tennessee

Tulane University, junior studying Finance, Management, and Data Analytics and AI

I spent all of high school babysitting and picking up odd jobs for neighbors and family friends, building a reputation people trusted back home. The second I left for college, that reputation disappeared, and I watched the same thing happen to everyone around me. Studying Finance, Management, and Data Analytics and AI at Tulane, I started seeing it less as bad luck and more as a broken system. I built College Crew because everyone deserves the chance to build and protect their reputation, both at home and at school, and to put their skills to work in whatever community they're in.

Co-founder

Zach

Elmhurst, Illinois

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, junior studying Electrical and Computer Engineering

I've spent my summers co-running a window washing business, and the hardest part was never the work, it was finding the people who needed it. That's when I realized thousands of students have the same problem: real, marketable skills and no easy way to get them in front of the right people. Studying Electrical and Computer Engineering at UIUC, I wanted to build a fix. College Crew exists to close that gap, connecting students who can do the work with the neighbors looking for it.

Come say hi

Neighbors and students, in one crew.

Book trusted help nearby, or sign up to start earning and building a reputation through work you are proud of.

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