Name: Briana Gardell
Year Graduated: ’14, ’15G
Major: Business Information Systems and Technical Entrepreneurship
Job Title and Description: CEO and Founder of Mezzimatic LLC
Website: http://www.mezzimatic.com/
Favorite Lehigh memory: Rushing the field at LeLaf games
What does your company do?
I created a product called Goblies. Goblies are paintballs that you throw by hand. They are painless like a water balloon and create a colorful splatter like paintball. The product is sold as a kit that allows you to make 108 using food ingredients and cosmetic dyes while learning about chemistry. I just got funding for pre-made Goblies, so I’ll be selling those soon as well.
How did you go about starting your own business?
I developed the product while I was in the Technical Entrepreneurship Masters Program at Lehigh and then I launched on Kickstarter after graduation.
Recommendations for future entrepreneurs:
Design your business for you. When you develop your business there are always a lot of factors you take in to consideration. You will evaluate competition, market size, market trends, regulations, etc. Don’t forget to make YOU one of the factors. Some will argue that you factor you in when you describe your team. I think you have to go beyond that. Your propensity for risk, your skills, your finances and your time should be infused in to every part of your plan. I designed my business for me by making Goblies into a kit. This allowed me to have lower start up costs and prove the market before diving in to bigger projects.