When Ian Sachs saw the opportunity to start something big on campus with the idea of FratCastles, he didn’t hesitate to pursue his dream. The idea came from watching the hit MTV show “Cribs,” where celebrities would take viewers on tours of their homes and show off their “whips.” Sachs had the idea to give students the opportunity to see exclusive house tours of fraternities and sororities around the Indiana University-Bloomington campus. In October 2010, the first episodes of FratCastles aired on IUSTV. Delta Zeta was the first sorority to be featured, and Kappa Sigma was the first fraternity. FratCastles could be watched all over campus, but eventually it grew too big for that station to hold. Since then, Sachs has developed his own website for the brand. However, you can still catch FratCastles on channel 2 (we’re not afraid to admit that it’s our guilty pleaure!)
If you’ve ever seen an episode of FratCastles, you would know there’s a lot that goes into the making of the episodes. You may be surprised to know that Sachs actually does all of the production himself: directing, filming, editing … everything. The only thing he didn’t produce was the song, which was originally created by Brice Fox. Until the release of the Acacia episode in October 2011, Sachs had considered giving up on his dream. “The show was still small and no one wanted to take me seriously,” he said. After the Acacia episode received tens of thousands of views, more and more houses wanted to be featured on the site. More and more houses were continuously added and FratCastles started to develop a fan base. Alumni from the various chapters sent him letters of praise and emails began pouring in from viewers who couldn’t get enough of FratCastles.
As his show grew more in popularity, so did his ideas for the future. Sachs expanded to University of Arizona and the University of Illinois first and is continuing to grow his brand at universities across the country. He chose Arizona because it is his home state, and Illinois because behind Indiana, it was the state with the most viewers. Sachs has made FratCastles his number one career, hoping to see a lot of growth with the company in the next year.
When asked what his vision of the company was, Sachs said, “To maintain an online Greek presence that portrays a positive image… I want FratCastles to be the go-to Greek site for not only college students, but also for high school students, parents and alumni.” In the future Sachs hopes to expand to more universities and continue working on recruitment software that he has developed. Because he has made such a positive impact on IU Greek Life, he now travels daily to different campuses’ Interfraternity Councils (IFC) to speak about FratCastles’ service.
Sachs hopes to move to Chicago where he will continue to grow the company with a team, building upon what he has created and expanding the website with his positive vision. He advises all budding entrepreneurs to find something they are truly passionate about and to do whatever it takes to get it done. There will be many obstacles along the way, Sachs encourages all to not give up until they’ve accomplished their dreams.
Are you interested in bringing FratCastles to your campus? Visit www.FratCastles.com and visit the “Join Us” page.
Connect with FratCastles on Twitter @FratCastles and Facebook www.facebook.com/fratcastles