Graduate starts company to assist, encourage entrepreneurs

When Jon Bradford graduated from IU with degrees in mathematics and economics in May, he was already the owner of a successful nationwide business.

Bradford, the owner of My Campus Cakes, a Bloomington-based chain specializing in delivering cakes for any occasion, was ready to share his entrepreneurial skills.

As a result, Bradford founded Dream Share, “a web development and entrepreneurial encouragement team.”

“I started Dream Share because people were coming to me with their ideas, and I wanted to develop them into reality.” Bradford said.

Dream Share helps Bloomington businesses with projects they are working on and helps people develop ideas.

After responding to advertisements for help on OneStart classifieds, senior Josh Dolitsky and junior Michael Buchanan joined Bradford’s team.

Dream Share’s first project, badaboom.co, was born in May 2012 and officially launched in the second week of September.

Badaboom is a social networking website focused solely on video sharing.

“People are taking one aspect of Facebook and exploiting it, just like how Instagram does with photos,” Bradford said.

Dolitsky said Badaboom gives viewers a more personal experience.

“It’s much more social than YouTube in the sense that you can see what your friends are watching and enjoy the video experience in a real-time setting,” Dolitsky said.
 
Bradford said he believes his knowledge of economics that he gained at IU greatly helped him excel as a young entrepreneur. He credits economics professor Peter Olson for influencing his decision to become an economics major. 

“He made it seem so interesting, that he was able to make effective decisions when it came to applying microeconomic principles to anything,” Bradford said.

Dolitsky said his perspective about informatics, which has helped him succeed as the lead developer for Dream Share, would not exist without the influence of associate professor of informatics and computing Mehmet Dalkilic.

“I have two priorities — research and making a student all they can be,” Dalkilic said.
Dalkilic said he tries to act as a catalyst by showing opportunities to his students.

“Most students believe they are limited in what they can do,” Dalkilic said. “I try to let all students be aware of what their potential is.”

Bradford said he aims to live up to his potential by giving current students the chance to become successful young entrepreneurs.

“I want people to get involved because this is a great community to start a business and start something new,” Bradford said.

Dolitsky also said he wants to help other students by letting them take charge of their projects but also by assisting them with programming.

“We really just want people to go with their own ideas,” Bradford said. “When you’re in college, you have the opportunity that does not exist elsewhere.”