Michael Castellano and Garrett Schaefer have been moving at a dizzying rate all week, probably all month, perhaps since arriving at GigTank in late May after coming from Silicon Valley, where making a living, particularly of the startup variety, demands breathtaking stamina and a steadfast belief that you’re The Next Big Thing.
It’s a steamy mid-July afternoon, but Co.Lab’s offices are cool. The room is cramped and buzzing with a quiet energy, like the pressure from a storm before it cracks open the sky. Demo Day, Gig Tank’s denouement, is less than a week away, on July 28, when startups get a chance first to woo investors and then to win over the public.
Finishing a salad, Castellano, the 30-year-old CEO of Engajer, consults a local filmmaker on video production for one of his company’s clients, Providence College. Garrett Schaefer, Engajer’s 31-year-old project manager, taps away at a keyboard. Co.Lab is home base for 14 startups from across the country going through its business accelerator program, GigTank.
Michael Castellano, left, and River Kanies, with Engajer, confer Friday, July 17, 2015 at CoLab on Main Street.“Here’s what comes to mind for me: a virtual tour of the athletics department,” says filmmaker Robert Ashton Winslow, one of many local human resources Co.Lab has recruited to help the startups. Castellano listens. The clock is pushing 1 p.m., when the Engajer duo is scheduled to meet with their mentor Tony Perri.
A 20-second walk takes Castellano and Schaefer to Co.Lab’s conference room. Perri comes in a minute later. Talk starts swiftly regarding spreadsheets, payment methods and DocuSign. Order forms and invoices.