We’ve had a lot of fun getting to know 68 year old Susan Jones and 54 year old Elizabeth Van Sant. These two mothers, business women and now startup founders in Washington DC are old enough to be Mark Zuckerberg’s moms. Their startup, Quad 2 Quad, was actually created because Van Sant and Jones have become somewhat pro’s at getting their kids off to college. They know the ins, the outs and “the ropes”.

We’ve interviewed and profiled quite a few college bound startups lately. Earlier this week we interviewed Cleveland startup CollegeSkinny who’s platform helps high school students transition from high school to college. We featured CiteLighter which is a highlighting bookmarklet app that allows users to easily make citations in their research. Exceleratr, a New York startup, connects high school students to much needed extra-curricular activities outside of the high school campus.  We also recently interviewed Swedish startup Studemia, which is a collaboration tool for students as well as CampusShift, a Youngstown startup looking to take a bite out of college debt.

Jones and Van Sant’s startup aims to help parents of perspective college students, simpli

fy the college visit planning process.  Quad2Quad essentially becomes the college visitor’s personal assistant.

Between Van Sant and Jones they have six children, all of whom have either graduated from college or are enrolled in college now. Jones told us in an interview that between her and Liz they visited over 30 college campuses between 1997 and 2011. Things were quite different, even back in the late 90’s. In 1997 it was unheard of to have to go throw hoops and bounds to schedule a visit. Now you need to schedule a tour, but even that’s not the hard part.

Navigating through the college’s rules and  even temporary hinderances like for instance an assembly on an off Saturday night may close the important sections of campus off to students. Or some colleges require special access to even eat lunch at the student union.

Quad2Quad consolidates information from hundreds of sources about colleges, when to visit, how to visit, what you can do on the visit and where to go and who to call during the visit.

Quad2Quad provides important information like admission office hours, admission office closures, interview and reservation policies and much more. They currently have 74 of the most sought after colleges in the Quad2Quad system and plan to add 300 more shortly.

In the interview below Jones highlights the community nature of the Washington DC tech community. Both ladies were shocked at how receptive founders half their age were to the Quad2Quad idea and to helping “two geriatric ladies” with their startup.

The fact is Jones and Van Sant are far from geriatric. They’ve both had great careers and are doing something that a lot of people their age would never dream of. I’ve personally been an entrepreneur and startup founder since 2003 and my mother, who is 64 I think (sorry mom), to this day still asks when I’m going to get a job.  Both women have found the age barrier to be virtually non-existant in Washington DC and have big plans for their startup.  Check out our interview with the golden girls of Washington DC’s tech scene below:

What is Quad2Quad?

Quad2Quad is a mobile application for iphone/ipad/itouch That radically simplifies college visit planning

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds

Susan Jones is 68 years old, CEO, psychotherapist, educational consultant and career coach for Dunbar Educational Consultants in New Canaan and mother of two. Elizabeth Van Sant, 54, COO, mother of four, has worked in corporate financial management , the corporate art world and freelance educational consulting. She was affectionately nicknamed,”psycho college mom” by her children

Where are you based?

Metropolitan Washington D.C. area.

What is the startup culture like where you are based?

The world of Chevy Chase moms did not have a start-up culture, to speak of. So we sought out the vibrant community of DC tech and attended their meetings in search of guidance, mentors and direction. We were wildly impressed by the energy of these young people juggling so many balls ably and enthusiastically.

What problem does your startup solve?

Quad2Quad eliminates the need to spend hours searching multiple college websites for information that is ever changing, not found in a central location and sometimes buried on the web site. Most importantly it acts as an advisor and aide to college bound families already inundated with multiple college admission tasks.

What is one challenge that you’ve overcome in the startup process?

We have overcome the generation gap between our non- technological generation and the whiz kids of the gen-y generation. We have opened our ears and minds to hear what they have to say and we have been rewarded with their willingness to share their knowledge

Who are your mentors and role models?

We were inspired by a young man who was a junior at Georgetown who stood up at a DC tech meeting and offered up his specialty to anyone who needed it in the area of college and education.When we approached him after the meeting and asked for an initial conversation he was enthusiastic.

When we inquired about his fees he answered “I ‘ve been given so much , I feel I need to give back.”He gave us back a lot including our prototype for our demo. We are forever grateful for his spirit and his knowledge and his graciousness.

Whats one thing the world doesn’t know about you or your startup?

We are the only college visit mobile app that is data based and has all the detailed information assembled at your fingertips. We do not just link you to the college web sites. Quad2Quad’s unique alert system will keep you from showing up at colleges without reservations which may be required, arriving on campuses when admission offices are closed, and protects you from last minute parking perils . Quad2Quad does far more than get you from quad to quad.

What’s next for Quad2Quad

We plan to add approximately 300 more colleges in late fall and install a social media element which will more fully engage the students in the process. This will enable users to text other students while they are en route to the same colleges. Once on campus they will be able to connect with volunteer quad2quad ambassadors on campus with similar interests.

Linkage:

Check out Quad2Quad for yourself here

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