Above image: Amanda at the PopShop at Cornell University. The PopShop is a co-working space at allows students from the universities seven college come together. From the walls to the tables, every surface was a whiteboard.

Silicon Valley used to be the “hot spot” for startups, but now college campuses are becoming popular places to create businesses. Amanda Quick, a senior at Syracuse University, is a rising college entrepreneur and Founder of The Next Zuck, a media startup and website covering student-run startups, college entrepreneurs, accelerators, and various startup cultures at universities nationwide.

“Our main goal is to tell student startup stories,” said Quick, 21, who is from Scranton, PA and majoring in Broadcast and Digital Journalism at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. “ There are so many up-and-coming entrepreneurs with great ideas, but some are not getting press.”

About The Next Zuck

In the fall of 2013, Quick interviewed students, entrepreneurs and professors at SU, Ithaca College, RIT, Cornell University, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, Miami University (OH), Ohio State University and Michigan State University.

The Next Zuck launched its’ 2.0 version on February 11th, 2014 and landed partnerships with Ignite Upstate, a website that features entrepreneur news in Upstate New York, and Student Startup Madness, a national collegiate competition that ends with the “Entrepreneurial Eight” at SXSWi in Austin, TX.

“We’re working with Student Startup Madness, Ignite and 3 Day Startup (3DS) to provide a visual element to tell new student startup stories,” said Quick of the partnerships. “We help promote each others content across various social media platforms and we hope our webisodes will give viewers an inside look at young entrepreneurs nationwide.

African-American Entrepreneur

Quick also said she never expected to be an entrepreneur, but she hopes to combine her passions of telling stories, creating interactive content and providing resources for  startups to create a successful product. As an African-American woman in the field, she hopes she to set an example for young women and underrepresented minorities who are interested in entrepreneurship.

“I always admired my mom’s initiative to create her own business and she was the one who motivated me to push myself to create something of my own,” said Quick. “As a strong woman, she really encourages me to have savvy business skills and provides me with books to read such as Hardball for Women.”

The Future

Last week, Quick was named an SU Entrepreneurship Engagement Scholar and will attend the Information Management Graduate Program at Syracuse University’s iSchool.  She plans to combine the technical skills she will learn at the iSchool with her broadcast journalism skill set to continue to grow The Next Zuck.

She also credits her team and advisors – Barbara Fought, Sean Branagan and Dan Pacheco – to get The Next Zuck off the ground and move forward.

“I’m really excited about next year,” said Quick. “But I’m also excited about where The Next Zuck can take me and my team. There are a variety of young entrepreneurs and startups across the country that we can cover. The possibilities are endless. ”

To learn more about The Next Zuck and Amanda Quick please visit thenextzuck.com or amandalquick.com.