Zero Sols

The Idea

Zero Sols came from noticing that local businesses and student organizations needed real websites but couldn't afford what agencies charge. So I put together a team of students who could actually build them.

What We Built

• Web development, responsive sites built with modern frameworks
• UI/UX design including wireframing, prototyping, and usability testing
• Brand identity work like logos, color systems, and visual language for small businesses and student orgs

How We Operated

As a co-founder, I recruited and directed students and engineers, set the technical direction, and managed client delivery. We grew to six people and shipped more than twenty applications for paying clients. My work covered:

• Client discovery, meeting with clients, understanding what they actually needed (not just what they asked for), and turning that into specs
• Development, writing code and shipping the projects
• Team coordination, managing a small team of student developers and designers, setting up workflows and review processes
• Business development, pitching, managing timelines, and making sure things got delivered

What I Took Away

Running a startup while still in college taught me things no course covers. Managing client expectations when you're also studying for exams, shipping on deadlines when your team has midterms, figuring out scope on the fly. The biggest thing was learning the full loop: conversation with a client on Monday, deployed website by Friday.