Different paths, but the same Husky entrepreneurial pride

From routing school buses to producing rare metals, Northeastern graduates are making a mark as entrepreneurs.

But although they all share the Husky connection, they took no single path from idea to C-suite.

Northeastern Global News recently caught up with several alumni entrepreneurs to learn about their career journeys, changes in their sphere of business in the era of artificial intelligence, and the message they can share with today’s Huskies who hope to one day turn an idea into a successful business.

Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Keith Corso, D’Amore-McKim School of Business ’21, is the co-founder and CEO of BusRight, a company which builds technology that powers “the largest mass transit network in the country: school buses.”

Lyle Stevens, DMSB ’09, is the co-founder and chief strategy officer at Later, which connects businesses with social media content creators so those businesses can grow more effectively.

Melissa LaCasse, Roux Founder Residency ’22, co-founded Tanbark MFP, an advanced manufacturing company developing high-performance, bio-based packaging solutions to replace single-use plastics.

Nick Myers, MBA ’18, co-founder and CEO of Phoenix Tailings, a producer of critical metals such as rare earth metals that power the future of modern day society.

Keith Corso – I started building BusRight when I was in high school, and I went to Northeastern’s admitted students day, and there was an event for the Husky Startup Challenge.

I walked out of that session and told my parents, “I’m going to school here.”

We are largely here today because of the resources and support and the network at Northeastern. [Fellow Husky entrepreneur] Nick Myers, was one of our first investors; then the Entrepreneurs Club and the speakers that we brought in were the first million-plus dollars that we raised on our journey of getting BusRight off the ground.”

Lyle Stevens – Northeastern gave me the environment for me to practice being a founder before I actually started my own company. I could participate in my undergraduate experience through my fraternity and treat it like a little mini business before I actually founded one when I graduated.

Melissa LaCasse – I came to the program mid-career, and Northeastern was able to help me fill in the gaps of the work experience I didn’t have. It was like a crash course in an MBA, so it was really instrumental in not only helping me raise capital to start the business, but also to think through strategically how to grow the business and speak with investors and pitch the business to different people.

Keith Corso – There’s three critical problems that are facing the largest mass transit network.

Overwhelming parent concerns around their child’s safety, not only in a school district building but in the journey going to and from it.

Routes are getting a lot more complicated. They used to act like trains on rails, and now they’re much more dynamic, given that students are going to different after-school programs. They go to one parent’s house one day, the other parent’s house the next day, and there’s many other variables that drive that route complexity.

There is a severe driver shortage, exacerbated by COVID. There’s not enough drivers to get the 26 million students that rely on a school bus every day to school.

Keith Corso – The reward for solving problems is more problems.

There is this idea that once I just raise that first round of funding, once I hire this key team member, once we close this customer…everything is going to be great. But that is a false understanding of the end destination because the end just creates a whole new set of challenges that we should be just fortunate enough to be experiencing.

Melissa LaCasse – Be incredibly coachable, but have editorial integrity about your idea.

You came to the table with this idea, and you have a sense of why it’s right. But people are there to beat you up, and you want them to. So take from them what you think is true, and right about how you may shift or think about how you’re going to grow your company. But also make sure that you don’t lose confidence in yourself or your idea that you first came to the table with.

Nick Myers – Try everything. Take advantage of the amazing different programs… as well as talk to all your professors. And just start a company. Just push off. Whatever idea you might have, whatever problem you want to solve in the world, just go for it. Don’t worry about it. There’s so many resources available for you. Just take advantage. It’s successful, great. If it fails, you’ve learned a lot.

Lyle Stevens – AI is transforming my business because the barrier for creative expression has come way down, thanks to technology making it easier than ever for folks to create content online. Now you have more individuals trying to become content creators than ever before because of the access of AI.

Nick Myers – AI is massively transforming the critical materials sector and the manufacturing sector. You have to actually integrate AI as a third or additional pillar to your entire technology stack, to all manufacturing ones, so that you can include automation, you can include robotics, you can include machine learning with how actual materials are produced and the chemistries associated.