RentSpree
Graziadio Spotlight Stories
Why did you choose Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School?
"Although we met each other at Pepperdine, we chose the Graziadio School for similar reasons. Pepperdine offers small class sizes and a practical application learning-style. Each of us was looking to round out our skill set and further our professional careers. We knew Pepperdine could provide a world-class business management education."
How would you define the "Pepperdine difference"?
"The caliber of Graziadio School faculty is nothing short of remarkable. The professors have a wealth of real world applicable experience to share. Classroom discussions aren't just theoretical observations, but advice from real industry experts examining real world case studies."
How did the Pepperdine Full-Time MBA Program help start RentSpree?
"The Pepperdine MBA program helped us develop our idea from the very beginning. Our classes facilitated our business development and took us through the entire process. The entrepreneurship track in particular helped us to narrow down our idea and showed us how to put everything together from marketing and operations to finance and legal. We attribute much of how RentSpree operates to what we learned at Pepperdine."
How would you describe the ROI on your MBAs?
"Our ROI in a way is RentSpree. Our MBA degree gave us the knowledge and skill set to tackle a problem, find a solution, and create a business. Pepperdine not only gave us a strong foundation to build our business from the ground up, but the right avenues to continue to grow from here."
What is one lesson learned at Pepperdine Graziadio that you have been able to apply to your business?
"At Pepperdine social awareness and corporate responsibility are embedded into the MBA program. When we began developing RentSpree one of the first questions we asked ourselves was: How can we give back to the Pepperdine community and the broader local community?
We created RentSpree to help those who can afford housing, find housing. But we also want to be able to help those who can't afford housing, which is why we are teaming up with the Pepperdine Microenterprise Program to help serve the vast homeless population in the Los Angeles region.
Pepperdine taught us to give back, so we want to be able to use RentSpree to spread awareness about homelessness and the great work the Microenterprise Program is doing."
Where do you see yourselves in 10 years?
"We hope to expand RentSpree to several other major metropolitan areas in the U.S. Our hope is to become a household name and to be known for innovation and our willingness to give back to the community."