Holy Cross Senior Football Player to Compete in Selective Business Competition

“California Dreamin’ Investor & Fast Pitch Competition.”  The competition bring together students from top entrepreneur programs to prove that they have the best business model. The event, by invitation only, takes place April 25 and 26, 2014, and features 35 schools competing for $250,000 in prize money and connections to venture capital firms. In addition to the monetary prizes, the finalists are guaranteed screenings with venture capital firms including Miramar Ventures, Menlo Ventures and True Ventures. Holy Cross is one of only two liberal arts colleges invited to take part in the competition.

Macomber and his sister, Annie, will be pitching a business plan for Recruiting4Me, a do-it-yourself college recruiting website. They  recently won a business plan competition at Pepperdine University which netted them $10,000 in prize money and an invitation to the California Dreamin’ competition.

“Currently there are more than  7.7 million student athletes competing in various sports across the United States,” says Macomber  “Not every student will play football at Florida State University or soccer for the University of North Carolina women’s team. Many students want to continue to play sports in college but are unsure of the processes and procedures for recruiting.”

That’s why he and his sister are pitching Recruiting4Me,which he says addresses these issues by aggregating all the critical information necessary to give student athletes the best chance of finding schools that match both their academic and athletic aspirations. “By streamlining the entire recruiting process, Recruiting4Me expands a college coach’s exposure to top athletic talent and reduces recruiting time and costs,” he says.

While they are in California for the competition, John and Annie will be guests on the popular national radio show “Business Rockstars with Ken Rutkowski” on Monday, April 28 at 1:15 EST (10:15 PST) to discuss the Recruiting4Me plan. The show brings together some of the world's biggest and most accomplished CEO’s as well as successful small business owners and entrepreneurs, including the likes of business tycoon and owner of the  Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban, hip hop recording artist Akon, and Whole Foods Markets co-CEO and founder John Mackey.

The show can be viewed on Business Rockstars website, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, iTunes, Tunein, and Radio.com. It is also streamed live on YouTube.

At Holy Cross, Macomber was a three-year starter for the football team as a placekicker and punter. He broke school records for punting and field goals and was named to the All-New England All-Star team his junior and senior year. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, he was selected as a William V. Campbell Award semi-finalist in his senior season and named to the New England Capital-One Academic All-American team during his sophomore season. He was also named to the Academic All-Patriot League in his sophomore, junior, and senior year. Macomber interned at Oracle his junior year and plans to work at NetSuite after graduation.

His sister, Annie was the only two- sport Division 1 athlete (playing both soccer and lacrosse) at the College of William and Mary from 2006-10. She holds a B.B.A. in finance with a minor in classical studies. She recently relocated to the Los Angeles area to pursue an M.B.A. at Pepperdine University.

They are both from Vienna, Va.