When NIU graduate student John Mercer decided six years ago to put his undergraduate education on hold to start an academic writing software company, he knew he had a good idea. As an economics major with an interest in statistics, he also knew to let the data speak for itself.
While laying the groundwork for his company, John realized that he needed additional expertise. He connected with Pedro Chamorro, a software developer in Nicaragua, via the Internet. It turned out to be a match made in heaven. “I needed someone to handle the software development while I orchestrated the business aspects,” said Mercer. “I proposed my plan to him and he said, ‘I’m in.’ ”
After six months of collaborating via e-mail and instant messaging, John and his partner launched their first version of ScholarWord, an academic writing program which now has more than 100,000 users worldwide. The product is designed to support high school, college and graduate students through every step of the writing process, from structuring essays to formatting citations.
“It’s intuitive and it provides comprehensive support, which is perfect for beginning users,” said Mercer. “But because it contains advanced features, we get a lot of power users as well.”
With his company stable and growing, Mercer returned to school to complete his bachelor’s before enrolling at NIU in fall 2007 to pursue a master’s of science in applied probability. A goal-oriented person by nature, he has his sights set on Yale’s M.B.A. program, and plans to make ScholarWord “the best writing product on the market.”
The data certainly points to a bright future.
- Abby Nall, NIU Public Affairs
- Photos by Don Butler, NIU Media Services