Featured Student Entrepreneur: Ross Younger

Our student entrepreneur of the month is Ross Younger, Founder of Advantage Point. Ross is a masters student at UWM pursuing his MBA. Ross is currently focused on creating a path that will include classes that will help him launch his startup. Get to know more about Ross and his work in his interview with MJ Horinek, Innovation Intern at the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center.

MJ: What is Advantage Point?
Ross: Advantage Point is proud to create, posts, and promotes 360° photography, virtual tours, and related 360° digital content for location-based businesses across Wisconsin. 

MJ: Where do you see your startup in the next 5 years?
Ross: While our emphasis is on virtual tours and 360° photography at the moment, we see ourselves as a bridge to local VR content creation.

MJ: What has your entrepreneurial journey looked like?
Ross: Today you know me as Ross the 360° photographer, if we met one year ago however you might have known me by another name – Agent Food. Back in May 2019 I launched a Secret-Agent-Themed food tour company in Milwaukee, which went on to be ranked #5 in the tour category on TripAdvisor with a unique blend of great food and a immersive spy adventure. As “Agent Food”, I was well-equipped to ensure each tour group completed their mission, but the pandemic was one thing this agent wasn’t prepared for.

When the nation went into quarantine Secret Food Tours went into a long hibernation. As I adjusted to this abrupt change, my friends at the UWM Lubar Entrepreneurship Center inspired me to explore virtual alternatives to in-person tours. With an excuse to get out of the house, I spent much of the summer documenting public locations through 360° photography and a heavy use of the Google Maps mobile app. There appeared to be great potential of providing 360° Google Maps Imaging services, a concept that was further developed as part of the Gener8tor gALPHA program. 

MJ: If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
Ross: Be open to all constructive feedback on your idea during the early stages, while recognizing which feedback is NOT constructive. Haters Gonna Hate.

Recently, Ross participated in the La Macchia New Venture Competition and the Scheinfeld Entrepreneurial Awards and placed 2nd in both. Ross also won the 1st place prize in the UWM Wisconsin Big Ideas Tournament. To date, his crowning achievement is the virtual UWM Innovator’s Expo – a virtual tour Ross created in collaboration with the LEC which pushes the boundaries of what virtual tours can be through extensive branding, customization, and multimedia elements.

Ross Younger is an entrepreneurial go-getter and constantly is seeking ways to push his work to the next level. To help support Ross’s growing work check out his LinkdIn and his website!