Author Archives: Brandon

About Brandon

Brandon is the ceo and co-founder and started ROCS during his freshman year at George Mason University at the age of 19. He was a recipient of the '05 Global Student Entrepreneur Award and in '08 he received Startup Nation’s Dorm-Based 20 Award. He was also coauthor of the '07 book "Student Entrepreneurs: Graduating with a Profit." In addition to ROCS, Brandon helped start and serves on the Board of Directors for the Youth Business Initiative (YBI), an organization to help youth in foster care successfully transition to independence. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Dulles SHRM as the Student Chapter Liaison & Scholarship Coordinator and is a National Member of the Society for Human Resource Management. In his spare time, he also serves as a guest lecturer at Universities and keynote speaker on various panels regarding young entrepreneurship.

You’re Going to Screw Up Constantly When Starting a Business, So Fix Things on the Fly

As an entrepreneur, starting a business is going to be embarrassing (at some point) because you’re going to screw up all the time, whether you realize it or not. The best mindset you can have when trying to grow a … Continue reading

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Matt interviewed (again) about social media, this time on ZDNet

Matt was just quoted in a ZDNet article: Job-seeking college grads may require an extreme social networking makeover (zdnet.com). “Activities in which students partake in college may be on the wild side, but are forgivable since many now-successful adults have … Continue reading

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Arriving Late to an Early Morning Meeting Due to Last Night’s 2-for-1 Special is a Legitimate Excuse

Starting a business while being a college student and why you need to take advantage of it. The title of this section summarizes one of the most important lessons we have learned since starting the business. Don’t worry about being … Continue reading

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How We Gained Credibility with Clients Without Having Any Credibility

“I might not always say what you want to hear, but I’ll always tell you the real deal” – Barry Labman (Brandon’s Dad) TRICKS ARE FOR KIDS Some businesses cut corners in order to grow fast. We don’t believe a … Continue reading

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Make a Friend, Not a Sale

Make a Friend, Not a Sale When I used to visit my dad at work, I never once witnessed a customer leaving his office unhappy or angry. No matter the personality or mood of the person who entered, minutes later… … Continue reading

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Hold the Door, Return the Wallet, and Don’t Disappoint Mom

Concepts and ideas we live by: Part I Not to sound like bad people, but we hate the phrase “business ethics.” Don’t get us wrong, we do like and respect the phrase’s meaning and what it describes. We just don’t … Continue reading

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How We Started a Company in College with $400, No Experience, & No Clue What We Were Doing

Starting a Business During Our Freshman Year in College We created ROCS during our freshman year at George Mason University with no real clue as to what we were doing.  The two of us combined had a total of 0 … Continue reading

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The Official ROCS Theme Song

Big thanks to Patrick “Gametime” Moore (Tom’s younger brother) for putting this together.  Just click the play button below to begin listening to the first ever ROCS rap song. The Official ROCS Theme Song

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Please welcome Kyle Hill to the ROCS team

After reviewing over 75 applications, interviewing some great college students, and figuring out who would be a great addition to our small team, we finally found our guy. We’re very excited to welcome Kyle Hill to the Responsible Outgoing College … Continue reading

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