Meet Jordan Yuppa and Pat Norton, two Penn State seniors with a novel new idea for a start-up company-an affordable delivery service that provides hangover relief to Penn State students. Their company, Hangover Hellpers, brings pre-made packs containing advil, alka seltzer, Gatorade, and other remedies to ameliorate the effects of a long night out.
From the hours of 9 AM- 1 PM on the weekends, Customers can order from 3 different "Hangover Packs" from the Hangover Hellpers website, organized by the severity of the hangover symptoms. The "Rally Cap" includes ginger ale or water, advil, alka seltzer, a vitamin pack and granola bar, providing a little pick me up for the morning after. The more "intense" hangover pack is called "Sunday Silence" and it's for the people who wake up and swear they're never drinking again. The Sunday Silence pack includes Gatorade, Advil, Pepto-Bismol (for the upset stomach and nausea), a vitamin pack, and an individual Nutella cup and pretzels. Customers also have the option to add a breakfast sandwich to their order, all of which will be delivered right to their door within minutes. According to Yuppa, "each of the items we include in our packs has come from a compiled list of our own favorite remedies to combat our own hangovers that Pat and I have used in the past."
Yuppa and Norton, who major in security risk analysis and business management, respectively, came up with the idea for their business during the summer after their junior year, driven by a desire to implement a business that could gain traction within the community. After brainstorming countless ideas for an entrepreneurial venture, they settled on one that addressed a very real need at Penn State: curing a hangover. In 2015, Penn State beat out 124 other schools for the title of "#1 Party School" in a survey done by University Primetime, so the need for hangover help at this school is extremely prominent. Yuppa himself said that he often wished on the weekends that "someone would just bring me a Gatorade." With the need for their company clearly present, Yuppa and Norton's entrepreneurial spirit and hard work helped the company to get up and running during the spring of 2016
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The pair of entrepreneurs said that they're "trying to make it as easy as possible for people so they're not fumbling to find cash that they might have spent the night before - no one needs a headache on top of a headache." Since the company launched several weeks ago, orders have been flowing in to the startup, and the team has been able to deliver hangover help to students for extremely reasonable prices (usually less than $5) and within 20 minutes or less.
While Hangover Hellpers has been successful so far, Yuppa and Norton have even bigger plans for the future. "We're utilizing the remainder of the semester as a soft launch to gauge business activity and determine what changes need to be made to streamline the operations," Yuppa said. "We will shut down for the summer months to implement these changes and then ideally pick back up in time for the start of fall classes come late august. "
While Yuppa and Norton both have full-time jobs waiting for them after graduation in May, the two plan to work with talented new candidates to continue the success of their business, even planning on returning to Penn State for a few weekends during the fall semester to ensure the continued success of their start-up.
The Hangover Hellpers venture has taught both students a great deal about applying the business knowledge from their classes to the real world. "Starting a business can be an extremely daunting and tedious task, and at some points also very discouraging," said Yuppa.
"We learned quickly that it's all about problem solving. If you solve one problem then you can move on to the next and the next and when you solve enough problems, before you know it you have something pretty solid to work off of and keep the momentum going."
Penn State, while it may still be known as the #1 party school in the nation, has worked hard to foster the entrepreneurial, hard-working spirit embodied by Yuppa and Norton. Through programs like the Summer Founder's program, a new entrepreneurship minor, and many new resources intended to support start-ups like Hangover Hellpers, Penn State serves as an incubator for innovation in both business and technology. Hangover Hellpers is one excellent example of Penn State students with motivation and drive who, through hard work and skill, have made an impact on the communities around them.