Max Schauff: From Selling Passes in the Cold to Creating the Go-To App for Nightlife
The Transcend Podcast · Transcend UW
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Show Notes
A UW engineering student turned a frozen line at Whiskey Jack’s into a venture-backed tech company - this is how he did it.
Max Schauff didn't wait for a degree to start LineLeap. He launched his MVP by standing in the freezing cold on State Street to sell handwritten passes to his peers. We trace his evolution from winning the local Transcend Innovation Competition to scaling through Y Combinator, revealing the gritty reality of turning a campus side-hustle into a national platform. This episode serves as a masterclass of the student-founder, proving that your university years are the ultimate unfair advantage for building a startup.
Download LineLeap here: https://lineleap.com/
We dive into:
- The art of "doing things that don't scale" to validate an MVP
- Leveraging the university ecosystem to gain an unfair advantage
- Navigating the transition from student project to venture-backed company
- The psychological shift from "founder" to "executive"
- And more!
Transcend Competition sign-ups are open now! (Due February 20, 2026): https://www.transcenduw.com/upcoming
Follow Max Schauff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-schauff-3a5393104/
LineLeap IG: @lineleap
LineLeap LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lineleap
Transcend IG: @transcenduw
Transcend Website: www.transcenduw.com
Transcend UW LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/company/transcenduw