Maxwell Feldman isn’t your typical student founder. He’s a senior majoring in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE), minoring in Creative Writing, and wrapping up four years that read more like an adventure novel than a resume. This spring, he’s graduating as a proud member of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program’s 10th cohort, the ELP Class of 2025, making his story part of our decade-long tradition of empowering student innovators. With one month left until graduation, Max is already an award-winning author, a two-time startup founder, an AI/media researcher, and a dedicated community builder.
When you meet him, he’s quick to mention poetry, classic literature, and the magic of writing. “More than anything,” Max says, “I see myself as a writer and storyteller before I see myself as an entrepreneur.”
The Accidental Entrepreneur
“I definitely didn’t think entrepreneurship was something I wanted to do until I came to Michigan. It came to me by accident, really.”
Max’s entrepreneurial spark didn’t ignite until college. In fact, he started at Michigan with only a passing interest in business. It was Sigma Eta Pi, a co-ed entrepreneurship fraternity on campus, that changed everything.
“I thought entrepreneurship was just like business—why not see if this fits? But the people were welcoming, diverse, and creative. That’s what made me fall in love with the community.”
From there, Max dove headfirst into campus life, reading, writing, and finding his voice as an opinion columnist for The Michigan Daily. One article, “Your current class schedule sucks: Here’s why it’s not your fault,” struck a nerve. Students started reaching out to tell Max that the story resonated with them. When Max’s stepmom, a serial entrepreneur, suggested that AI could solve the scheduling problems students were having, he realized he could actually do something about it.
“I’d been doing freelance writing about AI stocks for Seeking Alpha, and suddenly the dots connected. Entrepreneurship came unexpectedly, but it was really ignited by my love of writing and wanting to do something about it.”
Max quickly got to work on solving U-M students’ scheduling woes. He focused his energy on launching Collage, a platform designed to make class planning easier and more social.
Finding the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program
While building out Collage, Max found the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program (ELP). He says the opportunities for mentorship are what made him want to apply.
“I came in somewhat arrogant, thinking I knew what I was doing,” he admits. “Then, I listened to people who are successful founders and thought, ‘Wow, there’s so much about this stuff I don’t know, and it’s a lot more complicated than I expected.’”
Unlike most of his ELP peers, Max brought a fine arts lens to the program. “I was the only person in my cohort who came from a creative writing background. Everyone else was studying business or engineering.” That difference quickly became his superpower.
Instead of feeling like the odd one out, Max became energized. The diversity of knowledge, experiences, and skills he found in ELP was exactly what he was looking for.
“I was excited to have access to people who know more than me and are smarter than me in the world of entrepreneurship. I also like the idea of being an outlier, coming from a different world than everyone else. “
Lessons From ELP
Mentorship played a huge role in Max’s growth throughout his journey. “My ELP coach, Kristin Toth, really stands out. She was always there, especially when I struggled with leadership and management. It meant a lot to see her in person on the Seattle Trek.”
During his time in ELP, Max struggled with the sales and marketing aspect of Collage. With a very limited budget and only a couple of weeks to spread the word and prove Collage’s value, he turned to his instructors for advice.
“Dr. Mitchell Rhode and Grace Hsia Haberl gave me some great advice on guerrilla marketing tactics. That became my guiding star.”
He started bringing Washtenaw Dairy donuts to campus libraries, passing them out in exchange for help with their class schedule. Soon, Collage had helped nearly 800 students.
“It all stemmed from Mitch and Grace telling me I needed to change my thinking. You can’t expect people to come to you. You have to put yourself out there to a larger degree.”
Startup Wins, Lessons, and the Power of Persistence
When Collage didn’t take off as he hoped, Max was left grappling with what felt like a tough reality. He had thrown himself into the project wholeheartedly, even admitting he neglected other parts of his life in pursuit of the mission.
“The hardest part of failing was acknowledging the amount of time I gave to something that went to nothing. I’d skip class, pull all-nighters, and lose time with people because I believed so strongly in the mission.”
As CEO, he felt the responsibility, not just for himself, but for the Collage team. “People put faith in you. They sacrifice their time and lives for your vision. It was really challenging to walk away, and for what?”
Looking back on it now, he doesn’t view Collage as a waste of time, but as a lesson in persistence. “It’s the most valuable skill you can have, especially when the odds are stacked against you. To be an artist or entrepreneur takes a certain level of delusion, but sometimes that’s what gets you through.”
What’s Next for Max?
Since graduating from ELP, Max hasn’t slowed down. As he wraps up his final semester at U-M, he’s pouring his energy into Telepathy, an AI-powered writing partner built to support long-form and creative work. This time, Max is leveraging every insight and tough lesson learned from launching Collage, and is pushing himself to approach each challenge with intention and clarity.
He’s diving deep into customer discovery, eager to truly understand what writers need. “I got a huge amount of support, advice, and drive from the customer discovery process,” Max says. “That’s something I didn’t do very well in my first startup.”
On top of building Telepathy, Max has stepped into a teaching role in Sigma Eta Pi, leading a course for fellow founders on how to start a company. He emphasizes the importance of asking tough but essential questions: “You need to answer this question more than anything else: Who is going to pay, and why?”
Teaching these courses has also helped Max sharpen his own focus and priorities. “With Telepathy, I feel a much greater sense of clarity on who our audience is and what matters most,” he reflects. “But it also means doing a lot of hard work and having real conversations with people.”
Advice for Students
Max’s advice for his freshman self is unconventional but profound: “Write more poems.”
“I find that when I write a poem—or anything, really—it forces me to sit with myself, reflect, and pay closer attention to the world around me. ELP offers the scientific methodology that poetry, art, and literature express in their own unstructured, often irrational, and confusing ways. Where entrepreneurship brings certainty, poetry brings uncertainty. Honestly, I wish I had spent more time writing poetry, embracing my uncertainty within the certainty.”
Now, as Max signs off from his undergraduate years, he leaves behind a legacy of leadership by example, showing other students it’s okay to make mistakes and to lean into what makes you different. For Max, entrepreneurship and writing are two sides of the same coin: a relentless curiosity about the world and a fierce belief that every student has a story worth telling.