College of Business

Bizness Apps Helps Student Entrepreneurs Build Mobile Apps For Free

${story.image.alt}

Andrew Gazdecki (right) visits the Center for Entrepreneurship with Peter Straus as part of Executives on Campus 2015.

As a product of Chico State’s entrepreneurship program, Bizness Apps(opens in new window) values the young entrepreneurial spirit more than most companies. Alumnus Andrew Gazdecki (BS, Business, ’10) founded the mobile app platform at age 21, recruiting fellow Chico State students and raising an angel round of funding from a few investors, including Build.com’s Founder and CEO Christian Friedland (BA, Political Science, ’99).

In 2011, Bizness Apps relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where it quickly bootstrapped itself and grew into the world’s leading mobile app platform for small businesses. For the past three years, Bizness Apps has been ranked in the top 100 of the Inc. 5,000 Fastest Growing Companies.

“Since starting my company in college, there’s been nothing more rewarding than giving back to other student entrepreneurs who have great ideas but don’t know where to start. With the Bizness Apps platform, students can create their app ideas without any programming knowledge and start bringing their business to fruition,” said Gazdecki, who is now the company's CEO.

“We are so pleased the team at Bizness Apps are making this unprecedented offer to the students of Chico State,” explains Peter Straus, director of CSU, Chico’s Center for Entrepreneurship.

 “Recent studies show that the mobile apps ecosystem will shortly be at least doing $100 billion in annual revenue, so the time is right for all our students to get a handle on this emerging opportunity.” 

 Today, Bizness Apps is a global enterprise with over $7 million in annual revenue. Gazdecki credits much of his success by being able to start his company at Chico State. With the success of Bizness Apps he hopes to inspire similar stories through his work with university entrepreneurship programs - that’s why Bizness Apps is offering free access to its app builder for Chico State students interested in mobile app development who may lack coding experience.

This is a major opportunity for young entrepreneurs (and student organization leaders) to build a product; pitch a business plan; seek out investors and co-founders with zero overhead; or simply learn the ins-and-outs of an important emerging technology.

 What Chico State students get:

  • Free access to the Bizness Apps platform
  • Free Apple & Google Developer account hosting
  • Free access to app-building and marketing resources
  • Free, 24/7 email support

 Useful information about Bizness Apps:

 How to get started:

1. Register with the CFE, either via email: fnevarez@csuchico.edu or in person at Glenn 221.

2. Sign up(opens in new window) for a free account with your .edu email address.

3. Check your email. You’ll receive a confirmation that asks you to complete your registration.

4. From the confirmation page, you’ll fill out some basic info about your app:

  • Industry
  • App name
  • App icon name (this appears below the icon on the device screen)
  • App code (the unique identifier you’ll use to preview your app)

5. Choose your app’s style and layout.

6. From here you’ll be taken to the app builder, where you can dive into the features, design, and more.

7. Be sure to submit a ticket(opens in new window) with the Bizness Apps team from your .edu address to request a free account. Include your app code and the name of your university’s entrepreneurship program. They’ll mark your account as free.

8. When you’re ready to launch your app, check out the single app client resources!


About Bizness Apps

Bizness Apps is making mobile apps affordable and simple for small businesses. Bizness Apps is a do-it-yourself mobile application platform, allowing any small business to create, edit, and manage mobile apps online without any programming knowledge needed.

For more information, visit http://www.BiznessApps.com.


 

Peter Straus
Director for the Center for Entrepreneurship
530-898-4835
pstraus@csuchico.edu 

Read more news from the College of Business here.(opens in new window)

Glenn Hall

More Information

Business Student Advising 
530-898-4480
Degree Programs
MBA Program
businessadvisor@csuchico.edu 

Dean’s Office 
530-898-6272
bus@csuchico.edu

Giving Questions
Dean's Office
530-898-6272
bus@csuchico.edu


Accessibility Information

Persons with disabilities who need accommodations or have questions about physical access may call the program sponsoring the event or call Accessibility Resource Center at 530-898-5959.