In December 2022, Jake Piekarski started shoveling snow to help pay for college.
The then-sophomore from Southern California — who had recently transferred to the University of Wisconsin — quickly saw lots of interest from customers. He noticed a lack of adequate snow services online and began recruiting other friends looking for reliable, flexible hours.
Two years later, Snow Scholars, now a fully fledged snow removal company founded by UW alumni Piekarski, received a $150,000 investment for a 20% share from businessman Mark Cuban on the business reality show Shark Tank.
Snow Scholars has employed over 300 students in six college towns, according to the Snow Scholars website , and the business services homes within 4 miles of a college campus. Piekarski is proud of creating some of the highest-paying jobs on UW campus, averaging around $35 an hour.
Snow Scholars has paid out over $100,000 in student wages so far and expects to pay out another $150,000 this year.
“I take pride in being able to give students really good work opportunities where they can work all day if they want, or just a couple hours,” Piekarski said.
The best shovelers — those who take on the most work and receive the best ratings for quality of snow removal — and those who work when the weather is extremely cold or snowy can receive higher pay.
With his business expanding, Piekarski applied for Shark Tank in January and heard back from an interested assistant producer in April who had also shoveled snow through college.
“I hit a soft spot and pulled some of his heartstrings,” Piekarski said.
Piekarski worked with producers to refine Snow Scholars’ pitch and were told in May that out of 105,000 applicants, they were part of the 120 selected to pitch on the show.
This was long-time “shark” Cuban’s 16th and final season on the show, which made closing a deal with him even more exciting, Piekarski said. Their pitch on Father’s Day, Jun. 16, 2024, aired in December 2024.
Snow Scholars is using some of the $150,000 investment on developing new software and a custom app, along with expanding to many other college towns, according to Piekarski. Expanding to a university is about $5,000-8,000 in marketing manager fees and other costs.
Most schools the business is expanding to for the 2025-26 season — like the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan — are in the Midwest, but Snow Scholars will soon be shoveling snow at the University of Colorado–Boulder as well.
Piekarski is grateful for the mentorship of instructors from the Wisconsin School of Business and Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship and certain professors for giving him the flexibility he needed to run his business as a full-time student.
Lots of his entrepreneurial abilities have been self-taught, he said, but meetings with professors and the ramp100 entrepreneurship cohort program he participated in through the WSB provided guidance for his startup.
Piekarski advised other young entrepreneurs that they are capable of starting a business while still in school.
“If you have an idea, make progress and not motion with it,” Piekarski said. “Get whatever needs to get done in a timely manner. Start as soon as you can.”
Snow Scholars is always looking for more shovelers, Piekarski said. Interested students can apply here.
