Who is Jake Piekarski?
Jake Piekarski founded Snow Scholars in 2022 while a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The company pairs college students who want flexible, well-paid work with homeowners and businesses near campus that need snow cleared, operating within a few miles of each school. Piekarski had already started a home maintenance company, ChoreHub, in 2020 and studied at UW-Madison's Wisconsin School of Business. He has said the service is aimed at people who cannot shovel their own snow, have appointments to get to, or lack family nearby to help.
Students earn about $25 an hour, and the model carries high margins. On Shark Tank in Season 16, Piekarski and his then-COO Philip Loveland asked for $75,000 for 10%. Kevin O'Leary and Daymond John each offered $75,000 for 20%, and Mark Cuban won the deal with $150,000 for 20%. Since then the company has grown from about 30 customers to 600 across Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, operating at campuses including UW-Madison, the University of Minnesota and Milwaukee, and it continues recruiting students each winter.
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