Revolutionalizing the podcast game one student at a time

Smartr Pod is a media production company created by the students for the students. Wanting to hear from real-world experience and gain insight into what it takes to be a true entrepreneur? This is what Cooper Curtin was looking for when he decided to start his business Smartr Pod. The media company known for its podcast is dedicated to inspiring students who have entrepreneurial goals and to hear from real-world professionals on how they did it. Cooper had this idea sophomore year when he was reaching out for connections for future employment. In his eyes, he was gaining all this insight that he felt needed to be shared with other students. Cooper said “It would be selfish to not share those interactions with other people.” 

Soon after, he recruited his colleague Ryan Simonson to start the business. They have just completed their first season of the podcast with 4 episodes each having a guest speaker recruited by them. Each speaker is found through connections of their own or on sites like Linkedin. They put themselves out there whether it was confronting a guest speaker from a class they had or messaging the CEO of multiple engineering companies they wanted to hear from all. The goal is to conduct a more in-depth conversation. “To take that cookie cutter conversation and strip it apart to something more.” (Cooper Curtin)

The image they created for this company was something big with dreams and goals they decided to pitch their business to the KU catalyst program. This program was created for students who have entrepreneurial goals and to gain support from the KU business school with funding and resources. The catalyst program known for picking up business like “The Vintage Hawks' ' was the source Smartr Pod was looking for. Since the program chose to sponsor Smartr Pod they have had the privilege to hire a team of students to work for them. From producers, hosts, graphic designers, and more the company is growing every day. Kami Padilla, the Smartr Pod graphic designer said “They took a chance on me and I now get to provide the feminine touch to the company.” With this new and improved team on board, they have decided to go into their 2nd season of podcast shows. They hope to push their media in new ways. With ideas of bringing on students with their own companies or walking down Jayhawk Blvd to hear what the students have to say when it comes to their ventures. Ryan Siminson the co-founder of Smartr pod said “The first couple of videos of the podcast did over 50,000 views and most of those impressions were students here on campus.” With all these plans in place for Smartr Pod the question did come into play: what will they do after graduation? 

Cooper, a finance major, and Ryan a marketing major plan to go their separate ways in careers after graduation but that does not mean the end of Smartr Pod. They hope to carry out the podcast within the catalyst program and pass it down to other KU students who carry the same entrepreneurial goals that they have. They want to still have a part of the company with them but allow other students to express their love for the business world. The end dream for them both is to be entrepreneurs in their decided fields. Taking on what they have learned from Smartr pod to their future endeavors. For Smarter pod, there is no end but a future of pushing to tell a story about young entrepreneurs. For Cooper, this was a simple idea that he was able to turn into something much bigger. Smartr Pod is the perfect example of the magic entrepreneurship has to offer. With set goals and hard work, you can turn your ideas into reality and that is exactly what Cooper and Ryan want to prove to all young minds who carry the same aspirations as they do.