Name: Jack McDermott
Year: Senior
Major: Political Science
Hometown: Medfield, Mass
What are you involved in on campus?
I’m a member of the Varsity Men’s Lacrosse team at Tufts, which is my biggest commitment on campus. I also serve on the executive board of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which provides feedback for athletic policies for student-athletes. I volunteer as a classroom mentor with Level the Field, a non-profit that brings high-achieving collegiate student-athletes into lower-income local schools. Lastly, I’m co-teaching a course called “Tufts.io” through the Experimental College, which is a for-credit seminar for first-year students on startups and technology ventures.
Can you tell me about Fluently and how you were able to start a company in college?
Well I grew up with a stutter, so I’ve felt the challenges involved with speech therapy firsthand. I realized that although therapy is often incredibly effective, it can be inaccessible and expensive, as well. So I created Speech4Good during my freshman summer as an iOS app to help people with speech disorders practice their therapy from their iPhone or iPad. It quickly became successful with thousands of users, including hundreds of speech therapists. So last year I started working on Fluently, a website to connect people with speech disorders with a speech therapist. I’m no longer working on the product, which I built with Dylan Portelance (A’13), but it has served as an invaluable learning experience. Between balancing a varsity sport, full course load and a business, I’ve come to appreciate how important it is to prioritize and spend time wisely. It’s undoubtedly been one of the best experiences for me in college.
What advice do you have for students interested in entrepreneurship and business at Tufts?
Just start getting involved. The surrounding Boston/Cambridge ecosystem is incredibly dense with entrepreneurial activity. Start by learning the lingo: read up on entrepreneurship blogs and books (my personal favorite is The Lean Startup by Eric Ries), and attend meet-ups. Entrepreneurs are some of the most open people I know, so just say “I’m a student” and you can grab coffee with just about anyone in this city.
What are you looking forward to during your last year at Tufts?
I’m most excited about taking advantage of all the unbelievable opportunities that exist at a school like Tufts. Between teaching my own class, taking a bunch of courses outside of my major and getting into the city as often as possible, this year has been great so far. I have a spring lacrosse season ahead of me and a couple credits left, but I’m looking forward to making the spring even better—as my friend John Brennan would say “#YOLO”
Do you know your plans for after graduation yet? (yes, a senior’s least favorite question – Sorry!)
I’m looking at a bunch of new opportunities right now. Most involve working in product or marketing roles for a technology startup. But I’m entirely open to a few other options, like traveling for a while or volunteering in a service program. We’ll see, it’s still too soon to tell.
What will you miss most about Tufts after you graduate?
I think I’ll miss being surrounded by my closest friends and teammates each and every day. Tufts is a great place, but not only for what it offers as a school—I’m certainly going to miss everyone that’s helped me out along the way.