The dark side of a student online startup

University and secondary education students who have grown up in the post-millennial era have lived their teen and young adult years using mobile apps as part of their digital technology life sphere. The 2010s generation has seen multitudes of new entrepreneurial millionaires created because of mobile apps and social media. For students considering entrepreneurship as a career or life path, developing an app to solve a problem or address a want or a need seems natural. They may also believe that to conceive, develop, and launch an app may not be difficult. This ease of entry is appealing, especially as students live and act in the university setting, where anything seems possible. But students may not be suited to anticipating the potential dark side of entrepreneurial ventures, such as stress and strain, loss of time and sacrifice of other career opportunities, and loss of money. This case examines Stunited, a startup with a digital app for students that was founded by an American university student in his dorm room, fostered and nurtured by the university entrepreneurial ecosystem, funded in its early stages by angel investors, but one that eventually failed and shut down with adverse repercussions. This case explores this startup’s life cycle – conception, nurturing, fighting to survive, and eventual business death – from the perspective of the student founder.