Matthew Wilcox, a University of Wisconsin-Madison sophomore studying computer science, works for Wiscohub, a new company founded by UW-Madison students on the idea of building a single student-to-student online alternative to websites such as Craigslist and Ticketmaster.
Wiscohub was released this year as a tool for UW-Madison students to find and post a variety of listings in a centralized website.
“We wanted one location you could go to for everything… one central Wiscohub where people do the bulk of their transactions,” Wilcox said.
Wilcox became involved with the website after UW-Madison students Derrick Caschetta, Rajan Shah and Kevin Zhu reached out to him. The founders promoted Wilcox to be in charge of operations for the fall 2013 semester while they are off campus.
Wilcox’s responsibilities include marketing for Wiscohub and making improvements to the website.
Wilcox said it is both intimidating and exciting to be leading the Wiscohub “battle” this semester as the main “captain” in charge.
“Sometimes I’m not done with everything that’s on my plate until 9 or 10,” he said. “But for me it’s going to be worth it to see myself grow, to develop myself professionally and as a person.”
According to Wilcox, the website offers an added layer of security, as you need a university-issued email address to add a posting. This security method also means students will not be forced to meet at off-campus locations to make transactions.
Wilcox said the business has been doing well, as more students have been hearing about and using the website.
“When we become something that students want to use and like to use, that’s what we think our success is driven by,” he said.
He said the next step will be looking into partnering with public businesses that would be able to use the website for sponsored posts. For example, a local bar would be able to post drink specials and landlords would have the ability to post open housing units.
“We just really want to help members of the Madison community who could benefit from this,” Wilcox said.
He said Wiscohub also hopes to expand into other campuses that could likewise benefit from the same type of market.
