He typed out the email. Read over it. Made sure everything was perfect. It was a long shot, but he knew he had to try. It had taken him hours to find the email address. People like Mark Cuban, a billionaire entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, aren’t so easy to contact. Now there was nothing else to do but wait.
Marcus alumnus Jesse Stauffer, a then-junior at the University of North Texas, went about business as usual. He did his homework, hung out with friends and went to class. For several months, Stauffer had been creating a new app, which he called Bitsy, with his older brother Brandon.
Bitsy was designed to be the newest social network. Stauffer remembers first becoming interested in computers and programming at Marcus. He began with classes like web tech and computer programming and then started teaching himself. Stauffer said that his interest really flourished from there.
“I just love how you can start with nothing,” Stauffer said. “You can pay some money for a domain name and then you can create a whole business out of it.”
Now, all they needed was a chance for Cuban to take a look Bitsy and just consider working with him.
“I’ve watched him on Shark Tank and knew he was interested in technology,” Stauffer said. “I didn’t think I’d hear back. I figured he’s Mark Cuban and he has better things to do.”
The next morning, Stauffer went to his history class. Just like any other day, he sat down and unlocked his phone. He reluctantly opened his email, nervous that what he hoped for would not be there. One by one, the emails appeared in his inbox. But there was only one email that he needed. When he saw it, he couldn’t believe it. The response from Cuban had come.
“It was jumbled and full of misspelled things,” Stauffer said. “You could tell that he just picked up his phone and threw something on there because he’s so busy.”
It turned out that Cuban was interested in Bitsy. He asked some questions and even gave Stauffer free Mavericks tickets. But Cuban also had some changes in mind. While he liked the general idea of the app, he didn’t like the idea of it having to be its own social media. He gave the suggestion that it should be able to manage the posts all throughout other social media platforms. Cuban wanted all of the changes done by the end of winter break.
“All of it was such an adrenaline rush,” Stauffer said. “I felt like I was up against this big business guy and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to hang with him.”
Stauffer worked all through winter break. Since what Cuban was asking for wasn’t that different from Bitsy, he was able to use most of the same coding. Once he had tweaked his original creation, the app Xpire was born. Stauffer created an app unlike any other. It ensures that content posted on social media is appropriate. Xpire even allows users to time posts to be removed so that when they’re applying for jobs or college their profiles are clean.
Although they have never met in person, Stauffer and Cuban work very well together. Cuban’s main job is to provide financial support for the app, but Stauffer said he goes beyond what a normal investor would do. Whether through email or a messaging app called Cyberdust, they talk several times a week about different ways to improve Xpire.
“He’s more business and I’m more making the app, but he’s definitely given me many ideas,” Stauffer said. “We’re constantly brainstorming.”
Now in his senior year of college, Stauffer is always trying to find ways to balance Xpire with a 21-hour class load. Whie juggling the two is difficult, Stauffer said it is not impossible with Cuban’s flexible approach.
“You just have to make time for things and learn how to prioritize,” Stauffer said. “[Cuban] will tell me to do this or that but there’s never any set deadlines. He let’s me work at my own pace but that actually makes me want to work harder.”
With the support of his family and a partner like Cuban, Stauffer is excited to be creating his career before he even leaves school. From his programming classes at Marcus and UNT, Stauffer applied the things that he learned to build and improve Xpire. Working with Cuban has given him a glimpse into what his future career may have in store.
“I always knew that after college I wanted to start a company so it’s cool to be able to do it now,” Stauffer said. “I hope to just keep building Xpire. I feel like it’s such a basic app right now and there’s so much more that I want to do with it.”
