In this most critical of financial moments, Jake Cacciapaglia is a
24-year old who manages a thriving new company of his own. His
enterprise allows him to work from almost anywhere; all it takes is a
laptop and an Internet connection.
Cacciapaglia is the co-founder of goswoop.com , a site that
connects prospective international students with American universities
and foreign students already in the United States. Started in January
2008, this company started by five friends has, they say, already
proven to be profitable. It is also convenient: no physical space to
rent, pesky workday schedules, nor big financial investment.
The good idea was conceived three years ago during summer time,
when Cacciapaglia was far away from his home in Massachusetts.
"I wanted to spend the summer in Spain," Cacciapaglia said, "and I
wanted to find a place to stay, a job, and it came to: who could I
talk to that has done this before? And I found the people and they
helped.
Once in Spain, Cacciapaglia and one of his business partners, Cort
Johnson, met international students from all over the world who have
faced the same problem when planning their time abroad. Cacciapaglia
and Johnson found that it would have been helpful to know how to make
the most of their lives as students in a foreign country, or at least,
to have someone to ask about places to stay, study or work. And that
is how the idea of goswoop.com was born.
Goswoop.com works as an educational network to help would-be
foreign students to contact universities and students already in the
U.S. This site guides international students by helping to get in
touch with the right university, advisors and programs. And it also
helps them to plan their living in the U.S. by connecting them with
peers who have already been there, done that.
Cacciaplaglia seems to have found his dream business. He had been
attracted by the world of international education since completing his
last year of college in Vienna, Austria.
