Alumni Spotlight: Mitch Rivard - Wittit
Meet , ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder alumni and founder of Wittit! is a housing and roommate search platform exclusive to college students.
Mitch lived most of his life in Aurora, Colorado. He graduated from ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder in 2013 with a degree in Economics. Upon graduating, Mitch pursued a career in sales. He worked several years for an oil company in Texas, and later transferred to Zillow.
The idea for Wittit initially began during a frustrating housing search while Mitch was a student at ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ. He was using various platforms in an attempt to find a new place to live and also found it to be a nightmare looking for someone to sublease or to find additional roommates. He found the overall process to be extremely fragmented and time-consuming.
It wasn’t until Mitch began working at Zillow Rentals post-college that he gained the knowledge and experience he needed to begin Wittit, a platform built exclusively for college students that combines finding a place to live, a roommate, and someone to sublease, all on the same app!
¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Wittit
Wittit is a platform exclusively available to college students! Wittit provides students with access to all available housing listings near campus, connects students searching for roommates, allows students to sub-lease their rooms, and even provides information about campus greek life!
While employed with Zillow, Mitch realized that the housing search platform was not suitable for college students. He remembered how difficult it was to find housing when he was in school and decided to play around with several different ideas. Eventually, Mitch came up with the idea for Wittit and dedicated 100% of his time to building the platform. This past April, Wittit officially launched in Boulder and expanded to five other college campuses in January.
Wittit is extremely easy to use! First, download the app and verify that you are a student. Once approved, you may create a profile and begin your search! Wittit combines listings from all housing search platforms, property management groups, and students to ensure you find your dream home. Additionally, there is an in-app chat feature that allows parties to communicate without sharing personal information such as email addresses or phone numbers. Wittit also has a designated page for campus Greek life. Each organization can manage its page, similar to Facebook, and provide information to potential new members!
Best of all, Wittit allows students to review properties they have lived at! This way, students can have a feedback loop they can trust and know first-hand whether other students have had a good experience or not at that particular rental.
Challenges Faced
Mitch comments on the most difficult challenge faced,
“I have a sales background, and no coding experience. Getting Wittit built was extremely difficult because I had to find the right people to help me, and the entire process was very time-consuming and expensive. It was an ongoing struggle, we began building the app in 2017 and officially launched last April.â€
Initially, Mitch hired a coding team based in California to build Wittit. He was unhappy with the results, especially after spending large amounts of money on development, and decided to search for a new team. Mitch felt it was important to work with people he could trust that had positive attitudes towards Wittit. He was eventually connected with a Napalese company that provides American companies with talented Nepalese students. Mitch hired several app developers through this company and is proud of the work they have accomplished.
In addition to the team of Nepalese app developers, Mitch has taken on several student interns that assist with all aspects of Wittit.
Upcoming Projects and Events
Wittit plans to expand in-app features soon. One upcoming feature is a specialized roommate match system. The Wittit team is continuously taking in user experience and working to tailor the app to users’ needs.
In the Fall, Wittit will host an official launch party along with several other events to encourage students to connect with the community.
To stay in the loop, follow Wittit on and ! If you are a current student at ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder, be sure to also follow Wittit’s.
Advice for Current Students
Mitch provides the following advice for current students,
“If you're trying to be an entrepreneur, you have to understand that it's going to be difficult. You have to dedicate your time and energy if you’re going to do something. It’s up to you to make it all happen. Try not to listen to outsiders who are criticizing you or your ideas. Also, Network! You can’t do everything alone, so ask for help, be vulnerable, and find people who are willing to help.â€