Meet the student who started a company during his second week of college

Madison Rossi
Aug 22, 2017 · 4 min read

The first month for college freshmen revolves around asking questions. “What’s your major?” “Where are you from?” “Do you want to go to the dining hall?”

But what if someone came up to you during the second week of your freshman year and asked:

“Do you want to start a company with me?”

That’s exactly what The University of Chicago student Anand Kannappan did. It was the beginning of his freshman year and Kannappan did waste any time. The craziest part? His new friend said yes — and they’ve been running that company ever since.

Economics and computer science major Kannappan has a unique — albeit full — resume. From his own software company to startup internships, to a corporate role and various University of Chicago student organizations, Kannappan’s experience is unique among most rising college juniors. But something his profile won’t tell you is the meaningful relationships he formed throughout his professional experiences: These are his most valuable assets.

Kannappan had his first internship before he even became an official college student. California startup Peel, an app-based remote control system, had about 50 employees when he joined their team as a software engineering intern.

It was at Peel where Kannappan learned an important skill — one that is at the core of the work he has done since. Of everything he learned through this experience, Kannappan believes relationship building is the most valuable.

“I had a great mentor at the company, and he really taught me a lot about how to build your work ethic, especially in a work setting outside an academic setting,” Kannappan said. “But [I also learned] how to speak with your managers, how to speak with other employees, how to work with them. I think that was an incredible experience for me.”

Before Peel, Kannappan said he didn’t spend a lot of time meeting other people in different companies doing unique things. Now, he seeks them out and hopes to learn from their experiences.

Kannappan took this skill into his first two months at college when he approached a new friend and founded his company, Finalyze, which is a research platform that uses natural language processing and machine learning to algorithmically generate analyst reports. Using software Kannappan helped design, Finalyze enables analysts to explore and use hundreds of alternate data sets to hone down on 10–15 key insights that matter for retail and institutional investors.

“Being a part of a startup, raising funding [and] growing the company, has been certainly more than a rewarding experience,” Kannappan said. “Especially because I’ve been able to learn a lot about building a user-facing product from scratch and apply both my technical and interpersonal skills to a venture I’m really passionate about.”

This summer, Kannappan decided it was time to see what it was like working in a corporate setting and learn how things are set up in larger organizations. As a summer analyst at BlackRock, an asset management and investment firm, Kannappan has worked on investment strategy and risk evaluation. In the process, he has gathered a vast understanding of how different company structures can be.

As he continues his school career, Kannappan plans to keep learning, and sees himself in an entrepreneurial role after graduation. He hopes wherever he ends up, he is able to learn and be challenged each day — all while building value for people.

This piece was written by Samantha Spengler & Madison Rossi.

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Madison Rossi

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Writer @PromazoJobs | Journalism Major @NorthwesternU

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More Than Just Students

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